Rocky View County staff are getting ready to review the Shepard area structure plan (ASP), created in partnership with the City of Calgary in 2001.
The plan was designed to create a planning framework for the hamlet of Shepard and surrounding lands, located on the east side of Calgary and south of Chestermere.
In 2007, Calgary annexed land from the County, taking up 50 per cent of the land identified in the ASP.
The land now belonging to the County is identified for business use and is located north of Glenmore Trail and east of 84 Street SE.
Within that area are eight conceptual schemes and there is an expected eight-year supply of lots left, according to a report to the committee.
The review is meant to identify where future growth could occur, and Mike Marko, development planner for the County, said expanding to east of the County’s business-use area is the most likely location.
He said because of the time it takes for municipal and developer-led planning, now is a good time to begin the review.
The County also owns a smaller piece of land bordering Township Road 231 and Range Road 284 that is mostly isolated from the remainder of the ASP.
He said this land may be rescinded because it’s not part of the identified growth area.
Councillor Liz Breakey asked if Chestermere would be involved in discussions.
Marko said the Town would be identified as a stakeholder in the terms of reference.
Councillor Lois Habberfield said she understood the policy needs to be review.
She also said there are other ASP’s in the County that should be higher on the priority list because they have better servicing in place already, noting Shepard has servicing problems with infrastructure, stormwater, wastewater and fresh water.
She said she wasn’t against it but said, “at this point I’d prefer a minor tune-up.”
Sherry Baers, manager of development planning, said this ASP was one of five identified by council last spring to be reviewed.
