A series of open houses were held around the county Sept. 4 to 12 to gather information and hear from residents as consulting firm O2 Planning + Design, assisting Rocky View County (RVC), embarks on a project to develop a new Municipal Planning Document (MDP).
“It’s important that, really, before any pen is being put to paper, people are informed about the process and the intent of the plan, and have the opportunity to provide their input early in the process, so they really feel that we can consider their thoughts and opinions as we start to develop some of the growth strategies,” said Brian Horton, principal with O2.
According to Horton, the sessions were an information-gathering exercise, intended to share background information on the MDP project and obtain initial thoughts from residents about their vision for the future of the County and how it should be developed.
RVC’s Manager of Planning and Development, Matthew Wilson, said he was pleased with the engagement.
“We’ve had a good turnout,” he said. “It started slowly in Langdon, but certainly picked up through the course of the events.”
Speaking prior to the final open house at County Hall, Wilson said more than 300 residents had officially checked in at the events, and he estimated still more had walked through.
The Rocky View Weekly spoke with residents at the Sept. 9 open house at the Bearspaw Lifestyle Centre, who had a range of opinions about the project. Three-year resident Dan Twidale said he was generally in favour of the project, so long as the country residential lifestyle in Bearspaw can be preserved.
“I think its important that the County makes a determination in terms of where the growth is going to be…I think it’s important that gets agreed upon and decided,” he said.
Twidale added he found the consultants at the open house were generally helpful in answering his questions.
Bill Corbett, a Bearspaw resident of more than 40 years, said, with the decision already made to review the MDP, he saw no advantage in spending time contesting the project and attended the open house to see what RVC plans to do to protect the aspects of the County that make it distinct from Calgary.
“I wasn’t sure whether we needed a new MDP,” Corbett said. “I think the last County Plan was within the last 10 years. I’m not sure what the driver is for reviewing at this time, but I wanted to ensure that the County, on a go-forward basis, ensures that it protects [its] rural character.”
Corbett also said he found the session helpful, but added he’ll have to wait and see how the feedback is applied to the project.
“The real issue will be, as things unfold, whether the residents’ input is actually taken into account,” he said.
Thirty-year resident Jerry Neustaedter, who is in favour of replacing the County Plan, was less keen on the sessions, saying the information presented was “minimal to poor” – although he acknowledged the project was in its preliminary stages.
“That’s the challenge, sometimes, with the first one – people want to see something,” Horton said. “This is the one that’s kind of more challenging to get people to input because it’s open-ended, versus when we start having draft proposals. Then, there are things to react to and comment on.”
With the initial open houses and an accompanying online survey now finished, Wilson said a summary report will be posted on RVC’s website in the coming weeks, highlighting the feedback received at the sessions.
The project will now shift to stage two, which, according to Horton, will involve the preparation of draft growth strategies based on the input from the open houses. Once those strategies are drafted, additional open houses will be scheduled to gather more feedback – likely in November, said O2 Engagement and Design Lead Sarah Danahy.
As the project continues, Wilson said, it’s important for residents to remain engaged.
“This initial phase was very much a blue-sky opportunity for people,” he said. “It was a request to tell us about your experiences in the County, the areas you see of value and some ideas you might have for the growth and development of the County…. The upcoming sessions will actually start to provide a little bit more direction in terms of what O2 is hearing and how they start to develop some of the policies for the MDP.”
