Cochrane council has approved a motion to move ahead with The Willows housing development despite previous community concerns.
Just two weeks ago the Town of Cochrane council voted to postpone the progression of a proposed housing development in the neighbuorhood of The Willows of River Heights-- known as The Willows-- until they received clarifying information about the new developments height and density plans.
At a May 26 council meeting councillors heard Town administration outline changes to the development project that guaranteed the protection of a local wetland called Wetland 80. The wetland had been a priority of residents who strongly opposed the original development plan. With the wetland protected, council then became concerned about questions regarding the height of the proposed development and the density that the new townhouses would be built at.
Administration officials assured councillors that of the 63 new townhomes that the developer plans to build in The Willows, every single one of the two-storey homes will be below the 15 metre maximum height restrictions. In fact, the proposed plan states that the townhouses won’t even reach 12 metres; the highest the development will reach is 11.6, according to administration officials.
To assure council that the developer would not alter its development plan and change the height of the buildings, Town administration said that the development permit for the project has already been submitted and any changes would require significant time and money for the developer.
“I see the value of having diverse housing needs,” said Councillor Tara McFadden, who, along with Mayor Jeff Genung, was in support of passing the development plan through its second and third readings two weeks.
“This has my support,” McFadden added.
With uncertainty over building height cleared up and the protection of Wetland 80 guaranteed, the motion to pass the development through its second and third readings had wide support among council, with Councillor Morgan Nagel being the lone holdout.
Nagel stated two weeks ago that the public opposition to increased density in a neighbourhood among the outer edges of Cochrane was enough to sway him in opposing the motion.
The Willows development plan is almost two years in the works, and the original vision the developer had for the neighbourhood has changed significantly since 2023, when it was first brought before council. A major priority, both for local residents and for councillors, has been the protection of the wetland known as Wetland 80, which is so depleted that it was approved for infill by the Province in 2024.
The Willows Neighbourhood Plan, originally created in 2012, identified two wetlands in the community set to be protected long-term. However, due to the stagnation of the wetland in The Willows, the Town said the developer contacted Alberta Environment about potentially removing it, and replacing it with open space and amenities that would be consistent with the spirit and intent of the document and provide open-space for adjacent land owners, but would no longer be the original wetland.
Last November, residents of The Willows protested the planned removal of the wetland, arguing environmental concerns were not being factored into the Town’s decision-making process and protesting their worry that the displaced water in the wetland would end up in neighbouring basements. Those protests were enough to convince councillors that the wetland needed to be protected.
With the wetland preserved, council clearly felt comfortable allowing the development to proceed to its next stages. Administration officials told council that now the development will proceed to “formalized construction in the Fall.”
