A group of West Rocky View residents is circulating a petition asking the provincial government to form a new municipality.
The proposed area encompasses Rocky View lands west of Calgary, north to Highway 567 and south to Highway 66 and includes the communities of Springbank, Elbow Valley, Bragg Creek, Jumping Pound and the Highway 8 Corridor.
The group is hoping the petition, which has been circulating since May 8, will raise awareness of its concerns with Minister of Municipal Affairs Hector Goudreau.
“The goal is really to get Municipal Affairs involved and to have our voices heard,” said Breanna Sikorsky, of the Realignment Committee. “The petition doesn’t automatically mean succession from Rocky View.”
Sikorski said the group will keep collecting signatures until it has enough support to garner the minister’s involvement. The total number of signatures garnered to date is not known.
On its website, the group has posted 29 reasons for leaving Rocky View County. They include growing debt, increased residential and commercial development, poor planning and a lack of municipal transparency.
Sikorsky said the key concern is that residents are being ignored, particularly when it comes to development and planning, citing a lack of citizen participation in the Growth Management Strategy (GMS), the County’s long-term planning document, as an example.
“We had two weeks to give public input,” said Sikorsky. “It deserves more debate and analysis than we feel it has been given.”
Over the past year, the group has hosted community discussions and has met with council members and Rocky View staff to deal with its concerns. Those talks were deemed futile, so a bolder move was necessary, according to Sikorsky.
“The current thought is that if we formed our own municipality, it would be like a fresh start,” said Sikorsky. “We don’t have to spend all this time fighting with the County.”
Reeve Lois Habberfield said the Realignment Committee has some valid concerns, but leaving Rocky View will not solve the problems.
“I don’t think the problems go away whether you are your own municipality or not,” said Habberfield. “It is like anything, if you have a problem, you can try to leave or stay and solve the problem.”
She said the County is still committed to seeking community input and is willing to make changes to existing documents. However, she said she is discouraged the group is so distrusting of council.
“I guess I am frustrated that council works hard to protect the very things that they love,” said Habberfield. “They think we want to put all the growth in the area. We have no intention of taking away what our community loves.”
As for the issue of debt, Habberfield says current levels are manageable and less than that of many other municipalities.
“We have a debt, but we think it is justifiable as it is there to support our economic plan,” she said. “Every municipality tries to have a commercial and industrial development to keep the taxes for residents down. The question is where are the appropriate areas.”
The GMS, council’s 50-year plan for Rocky View, identifies five growth nodes within the County. Those nodes, including Conrich, Langdon, Balzac, Cochrane Lake and the Springbank area, will feature higher densities to accommodate a projected quadrupling of population while moderating the impact on agricultural lands. She said many people had input into it.
“In each area, the local councillors had a lot of say as to what went on the map,” said Habberfield. “It’s a working policy, we are still working on the implementation of the policy. We have made a commitment to working with the people.”
Division 6 Councillor Greg Boehlke said the West Rocky View group has long had concerns, which are likely motivated by fear and misinformation. He said the result of the petition might not be what the group desires.
“The government has no desire to start new municipalities. If this push should keep going, they (the Alberta Government) might say, ‘you are part of Calgary.’”
However, he said a solution could be reached with good communication and proper information.
“It is an interesting dilemma,” said Boehlke. “The solution is there. If they aren’t happy with the way the GMS is right now, we will change it.”
