The future Lanark community – previously named Lanark Lake – to be developed in Airdrie’s southeast corner will move forward without the lake.
“In late 2017, and throughout 2018, we realized that our vision of the lake community – which was a very challenging decision for us, personally, in our local office because we were excited to do this – we couldn't commit to it,” said Graeme Melton with Melcor Development Ltd., the developer behind the project, during a presentation to council March 16. “We couldn't sell to the public, knowing that we didn't have a servicing scenario that was feasible.”
When initially approved by council in 2015, Lanark Lake was intended to be a 160-acre private freshwater lake community located south of Ravenswood and east of King’s Heights. However, according to City of Airdrie senior planner Gail Gibeau, a major constraint for development in the area is servicing availability – a contributing factor to the decision of Melcor’s board not to proceed with the lake, citing additional concerns around servicing costs and external market conditions.
While Melcor intends to continue with the development of the lands, she said, applications have been submitted to amend the Southeast Airdrie Community Area Structure Plan and the Lanark Lake Stage 1 Neighbourhood Structure Plan (NSP), removing references to the private freshwater lake from the affected plans.
“We now have two plans…that contain references to a lake that is no longer being contemplated,” she said. “This could lead to claims of false advertising and lack of transparency.”
According to Gibeau, even with the removal of the lake as an amenity and feature of the community, administration remains satisfied the neighbourhood created through the proposal is in keeping “with the vision for Airdrie as articulated in the Airdrie City Plan.”
“We believe that we can continue the quality of development that we’ve developed in King’s Heights, and we can continue that through into this smaller community,” Melton said.
Still, concerns were raised regarding the lack of public engagement around the decision. The Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) felt that since the engagement during the adoption of the NSP in 2015 “alluded to the larger private freshwater lake community,” additional engagement should be undertaken to remove the lake.
“Administration noted that since the physical layout and design of the community is being retained, it was decided that public engagement beyond that of the public hearing would not be required,” Gibeau said.
Coun. Candice Kolson disagreed, stating the removal of the lake is a “substantive change” from what was originally proposed – and noted a condition of her original endorsement of the application was that it was a lake community.
“In my mind, the entire plan is completely different, and that community is not going to provide anything fabulous for the city of Airdrie now,” she said.
Coun. Tina Petrow noted, while she understood Melcor’s concerns regarding economic uncertainty, the plan was approved specifically because of the lake – and she supported MPC’s recommendation for additional engagement.
“I feel that if this did go back to public engagement, there would probably be a lot of people who would attend and have opinions on this,” she said.
According to Coun. Al Jones, without the lake, the community would lose a number of other complementary amenities – like related retail shops and recreation opportunities. Melton said the concern was “valid,” but noted both council and the public will have plenty of opportunities to address these issues as the development of the neighbourhood progresses.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of disappointment, with the lake not being put in. However, I do believe all of our comments – our abundance of comments about what we are wanting to see in this – I’m assuming they’ve been heard loud and clear,” Petrow said. “And I look forward to… scrutinizing those next stages and making sure that this community is really something that council and Melcor and everyone can be proud to have in the community.”
Ultimately, despite suggestions to table the item until more information regarding servicing could be provided, council voted unanimously in support of the amendments.
“If we don’t move on this, we’re just perpetuating false advertising and advertising a community that will never come to fruition, ever,” Kolson said.
