After nearly 10 hours of input from the public on the proposed Conrich Area Structure Plan (ASP) on May 12, the item was back on the agenda at Rocky View County (RVC) council’s meeting on May 26.
While the public hearing was still open, the opportunity for the public to speak was no longer available, giving RVC Senior Planner Richard Barss the chance to rebut some of the opposition voiced by residents and adjacent municipalities during the first part of the hearing.
“I think a lot of the concerns raised were related to the County’s relationship with the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP),” Barss said. “They didn’t look at some of the regional aspects of what this plan does. It is a regional business centre and provides regional services to Western Canada, as well as regional employment opportunities to the County and to the adjacent cities.”
He added some of the concerns didn’t look at the plan “in context to the County.” While the Conrich area was not identified as a growth area by the CRP, it is an area highlighted within RVC’s County Plan for future development.
In response to the City of Chestermere’s criticism that the plan cuts into agricultural land, Barss said there is plenty of agricultural land not identified for further development within the regional scope of RVC.
“We look at the County as a whole – we can use the monies generated here to help support services elsewhere in the County that can’t support this kind of economic development,” he said. “This is the best use of this land in this particular place, as it is becoming difficult to farm.”
At the first part of the hearing, the City of Chestermere requested the County approve an Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP) with the city prior to adopting the proposed Conrich ASP. Barss said a public hearing on a possible IDP is “anticipated for sometime within the fourth quarter.”
“There is no benefit to waiting on the IDP,” he said. “Certainly Chestermere did not wait on the IDP to form its area structure plan, and they don’t have an IDP with the City of Calgary.”
Barss informed council that a number of amendments and critiques have been submitted by landowners in the area looking to “get out of” some of the impacts of the ASP. Any major amendments to the plan, however, would result in another public hearing.
“I think people have been individually impacted by things like noise, but I think the plan has to stop somewhere,” he said. “None of the things we heard two weeks ago (at the hearing) were new to me. We did consider them all and some we’ve made changes to.”
A motion was made to give first reading to the document, which passed 8-1 with Councillor Jerry Arshinoff voting in opposition. Following first reading, there is still an opportunity for further amendments and possibly mediation with the County’s municipal neighbours, if required.
“I’m not going to support it,” Arshinoff said. “I have a few reasons, but by far the main one is that the well-being of the people who live there now is not even a consideration. We are talking about multi-million dollar deals, and sacrificing individual people for the so-called greater good is just wrong.”
Administration will engage with area municipalities to address their concerns, and any amendments to the plan will be presented to council at a meeting on July 14.
