The process of approving the future construction of a new Costco warehouse and supporting infrastructure in the Bingham Crossing shopping area of Springbank will finally commence on Feb. 7.
According to Rocky View County’s (RVC) newly appointed executive director of Community Development Services, Matt Boscariol, County administration has provisionally approved a development permit for the future Costco facility.
“We have conditionally approved a development permit for the construction of that Costco warehouse and some auxiliary uses to Costco,” confirmed Boscariol in a recent interview.
That conditional approval will begin on Feb. 7, he added, with a Notice of Decision letter being mailed out to adjacent residents and nearby landowners.
Besides being mailed out to residents and landowners who live within 800 metres of the proposed site, the Notice of Decision will also be posted on the County website the same day.
According to Boscariol, affected parties will then have until Feb. 28 to submit an appeal of the development permit to RVC’s Subdivision and Development Appeal Board.
This proposed Costco build, if approved, will be the first structure to be put up in the Bingham Crossing area since it was first proposed for redevelopment in 2019.
Bingham Crossing is a multi-phase development project located between the western edge of Calgary and the gated Harmony community, within the Springbank Highway Business Area on the corner of Range Road 33 and Highway 1. Phase One comprises approximately 270,000 square feet of commercial and retail uses, and had originally included plans for a new seniors’ housing complex and municipal greenspace. Those have not yet been built.
RVC council approved Phase 2 in July 2020. The second phase plans included a 20-acre parcel that is supposed to house shopping and lifestyle destinations with, according to developer Rencor Development’s website, a “variety of high-quality shops, services and amenities alongside various office, retail and commercial services.”
Springbank Community Association vice-president and director of planning Al Schmidt said his association members are not necessarily opposed to the Costco development, but they want to wait and see the finer details of the approved development permit on Feb. 7 before making a final judgment on whether or not to appeal the decision to the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board.
“The community has mixed feelings regarding the warehouse, and I think what has always given the community some peace of mind related to it is the vision plan for Bingham Crossing was developed through a process of community engagement,” he stated. “A typical Costco wouldn’t fit into the vision plan for that site, but we believe Rocky View planning administration group have been diligent in working with Costco for several months to make sure there is compliance with this specific land use.”
RVC Coun. (Div. 2) Don Kochan, who represents that part of Springbank on council, also encourages residents to look over the Notice of Decision on Feb. 7 carefully, and make up their own minds about it.
"Bingham Crossing has a received a conditional developmental authority approval and I encourage all nearby residents and landowners to review the mailed documentation, visit the County website, and submit any concerns prior to the deadline,” he said in statement released to the Rocky View Weekly late last week.
According to a newsletter sent out by Kochan to his constituents at the end of 2022, RVC council had also directed County administration to negotiate a cost-sharing agreement with the local developers and Alberta Transportation back in 2020 to create a new interchange that would serve the Bingham Crossing development for an estimated cost of $40 million.
The initial proposed funding model would have included a 20 per cent share for Rocky View County, 40 per cent Harmony/Bingham Crossing, and a contribution of 40 per cent from the Province.
However, the County was not successful in its request for funding from Alberta Transportation for the interchange, according to Kochan.
At the Dec. 13, 2022 council meeting, councillors passed a cost-sharing agreement with Harmony, Bingham and RVC for an amount of $24 million, with RVC’s share, (amounting to $6 million), coming from the transportation offsite levy that developers have already contributed to.
—With files from Jordan Sticker and Ben Sherrick/Great West Media
