First reading was given to adopt the proposed Langdon Area Structure Plan (ASP) at a Rocky View County (RVC) public hearing March 8. According to RVC planner Meghan Norman, the ASP will result in a comprehensive community similar to the size of Strathmore – with employment opportunities, services, recreational facilities and homes within a boundary large enough to support growth for more than 10 years.
Administration’s report stated the previous Langdon ASP was approved in 1999 and last amended in 2005, and required a review based on new County policy and development pressure. Development of the plan involved “extensive” community consultation and engagement, including a door-to-door survey, five community open houses, two online surveys and one-on-one meetings as requested.
“Engagement with the community was key in setting up a plan that represented community views and assisted in providing updated goals and a vision for the hamlet of Langdon,” Norman said.
Norman added the ASP has been prepared with an engineering technical review which included stormwater, waste water and transportation studies. Additional expansion lands for the hamlet are not currently required to support stormwater improvements, she said, but new culverts and ditches can be implemented within the hamlet boundary.
Still, several landowners who spoke at the public hearing voiced concerns regarding current and potential future drainage issues. Langdon resident Al Schule said, while the ASP has a lot of good aspects, he has a “big issue” with the stormwater plans – and feels the boundary should be expanded to include the entire ASP study area to provide more opportunities for safe drainage.
“During peak times, (the Railway Avenue ditch) is full,” he said. “In fact, there’s actually been water over top of the banks. It’s becoming dangerous, and I really think the bigger picture has to be looked at.”
RVC Planner Amy Zaluski said the proposed plan does incorporate all of the recommendations from the technical review committee, but the boundary of the plan has yet to be determined. According to Zaluski, the “working document” provides a “good, balanced approach to logical growth.”
“I’ve heard from a lot of the general public in the area, and a lot of the concerns are stormwater and servicing strategies,” area Councillor Rolly Ashdown said. “We do an ASP every decade or so, and I want to get it right. Before second reading, I’m going to have a couple of motions for administration to provide us with additional information so that we can adjust things. I want to get these fixed now, and I want to do it considering everybody’s opinion.”
After first reading was carried unanimously, Ashdown moved to table the item. His motion was passed by a vote of 6-3 with Councillors Jerry Arshinoff, Margaret Bahcheli and Liz Breakey voting in opposition. The Langdon ASP will return to council at a future meeting for second and third readings, and can be viewed online at rockyview.ca
“I think this is an excellent ASP that has balanced everything that we need to balance in this very environmentally-sensitive area,” Breakey said. “We’re almost tripling the population and we are doing it by enhancing the infrastructure to handle the major issue of stormwater drainage at a cost that we can afford.”
