Rocky View County (RVC) will pursue two new planning projects following a decision by council at a regular meeting Jan. 8 to adopt two Terms of Reference to guide the Bearspaw Area Structure Plan (ASP) Review and the Bragg Creek Hamlet Expansion Strategy, respectively. According to planner Jessica Anderson, the approximately-25,000-acre Bearspaw ASP has not been comprehensively reviewed since it was adopted in 1994. “Since the ASP was adopted, the community of Bearspaw has been experiencing a significant amount of residential growth pressure in a variety of forms, ranging from country residential to urban density,” she said, adding the review would explore potential development scenarios and establish a land use strategy for the various communities in Bearspaw. Planner Johnson Kwan said the Bragg Creek project aims to provide similar information, to accommodate the hamlet’s expansion to properties south of Bragg Creek. “The whole hamlet expansion area is approximately 214 acres in size,” Kwan said. “There’s approximately 20 or so landowners in the area right now. Back in 2007, when the Greater Bragg Creek ASP was being adopted, the ASP identified this area for future growth for hamlet expansion, once servicing is available in this area.” According to Kwan and Anderson, each project will flow through four phases spanning approximately one year, beginning with initiation and background analysis and proceeding through community engagement and plan writing, and the release of a draft plan, before concluding with a public hearing. Kwan said the Bragg Creek project would begin this month, with a public hearing sometime between January and March 2020, while Anderson said the Bearspaw review would begin this year in April with a public hearing targeted for the summer of 2020. Both items were originally presented at a regular meeting Nov. 27, 2018, when a similar Terms of Reference – to review the Conrich ASP – was adopted 5-2 by council. At that time, Deputy Reeve Al Schule expressed his preference to form steering committees to guide ASP reviews, and moved County administration schedule a workshop to discuss ASP reviews. That workshop took place Dec. 4, 2018. During discussion of the Bragg Creek project, Schule reiterated his desire to see steering committees implemented as part of the process. Amy Zaluski, supervisor of Planning Policy, said steering committees have been eschewed in recent years in favour of engagement strategies tailored to specific projects in consultation with the area councillor. “This is a different situation, because it’s amendments to an existing plan and it affects a smaller group of landowners, so what we would seek to achieve is really engaging those 20 or so landowners within the plan area,” she said. “That can be achieved through various means, and not just a steering committee.” Implementing a steering committee would impact project timelines, Zaluski added, as public engagement would still need to be carried out – resulting in two separate processes that would need to be managed, she said. Despite the discussion of steering committees, council ultimately voted unanimously to adopt the Terms of Reference for both projects, as presented by administration. Coun. Jerry Gautreau was absent from the meeting.
