A concept plan for the proposed Glendale Ranch development to be located on the northeast corner of Glendale Road and Township Road 262 was presented at an open house at the Bearspaw Lions Hall on Nov. 20, encouraging locals to share their opinions and concerns.
The vision for Glendale Ranch is a fully serviced residential community made up of three different living options: single-family residential parcels, semi-detached and cottage-style units for active seniors, and similar units designed for assisted living.
“What’s being proposed here is a different way of thinking,” said developer Don Kalancha with Lifewatch Inc. “It’s a place to go from an acreage when people want to downsize as they get older, for people who want to stay in the area but can’t maintain a large property anymore. This is something where it’s your home, your area, where you know the people, but you can make your life smaller.”
The idea for the development came from a U.S.-based landscape planner, Randall Arendt, who was hired by Rocky View County (RVC) in 2007 to develop a concept for the area. According to Kalancha, Arendt was inspired by the rolling topography of the site.
“He looked at not putting up four-acre parcels and taking up farmland, but rather doing it in a condensed way to keep lots of park land and open spaces,” he said. “This has developed since then from local people who have been ranching and farming here for 35 to 40 years.”
While Kalancha said there is a great deal of local interest in the project, the population of the area is diverse. A challenge in moving the project forward has been the opposition of adjacent landowners, since according to Kalancha, they “don’t want change.” Residents at the open house, however, were supportive of the plan.
“There is so much land taken up with bigger sites that is really wasted when people don’t need that much,” said area-resident Shirley Thomas. “I think this is important for the area, and we like the idea of smaller acreages. A wide variety of people would be able to live there.”
Area-Councillor Bruce Kendall said the county is seeing a lot more interest in smaller parcels. Since the 1970s, he said lot sizes have dropped from 20-acre parcels to four or five acres, and more recently, developers are looking at two-acre lots or smaller.
“We are getting the impression, based on sales successes, that smaller lots with more open space is where the market is,” Kalancha said. “I think it is a better fit with communities, and people like the open space.”
He said he will wait to see what the community has to say about the project before it is brought to council, but that his mind is open to the possibility of the development.
“This is really just our concept plan, so we can see what kind of reaction we get before we move this forward to council,” Kalancha said. “We hope to bring it to council within the next 12 months.”
