Rocky View County councillors will soon have a comprehensive plan to help guide decisions about parks, trails and open spaces for the next 25 years.
The Parks and Open Space Master Plan, which staff started drafting in the fall of 2009, was presented in its draft form to County councillors, March 8.
The 80-page document divides the county into five regions and provides 141 recommendations for future parks, trails, cultural resources and river accesses as well as ways to manage these natural spaces.
“Once we are able to manipulate the information, it’s going to be very valuable,” said Reeve Rolly Ashdown.
Open houses, telephone interviews, workshops and an online survey were used to gather input from residents, recreational boards, neighbouring municipalities, agencies and interested groups.
The document will be used to help develop a new Municipal Development Plan in the near future.
According to Julie Verch, Rocky View’s communication assistant, the plan is another tool to help council make decisions.
“Without a master plan, it is hard to know what is important and what the public wants,” she said. “Now council has a document it can reference.”
The plan is not binding, and all planning decisions still lay squarely in council’s lap, Verch added.
“It’s still up to council to implement the recommendations or not and provide the budget or not,” she said.
The plan’s top three priorities include creating a County parks department, a steering committee and establishing a sub group that would be in charge of maintaining parks and open spaces.
Other priorities include ensuring linkage to regional pathways such as those within Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park and ensuring public access to water bodies such as Emerald Bay Marina, the Elbow River and the Bearspaw Reservoir.
Detailed maps show future paths and green spaces.
Division 1 Councillor Rick Butler called the plan “high-level.”
“The beauty of the report is that it is thought provoking and incremental,” he said.
Councillors voted to receive the plan for information. They will participate in a workshop to better understand the document before final approval.
