Cochrane council went to bat for a bylaw triple-header during its Sept. 9 meeting, all three of which were unanimously knocked out of the park.
The first was to amend a land-use bylaw to allow for the development of street-oriented townhomes in a variety of established and new neighbourhoods in the community.
Neighbourhoods such as Glenbow, West Valley, West Terrace, West Pointe, East End and Heritage Hills all have small pockets of land that is designated as R-2 (the land type that permits the development of townhomes), while the newer communities of Fireside, South Ridge and Sunset Ridge have completed or are in the process of building R-2 lands.
Councillor Jeff Toews questioned administration’s effort to gather information from the public on whether there was sufficient support for this amendment. When asked if administration approached residents one-on-one, Kathy Dietrich, senior manager of planning and engineering for the town, said they did not, but that people were invited to participate in a Facebook discussion on the proposed amendment.
“What works best for us is when we are set up downtown,” Toews said.
Though he did ultimately support the motion, Toews said he would like to see more public engagement on these types of amendment in the future.
Councillor Tara McFadden asked how established communities in town would be affected by the amendment, as she had only expected to see newer ones. Dietrich said any proposed R-2 developments in established neighbourhoods would involve a consultation process prior to approval.
Representatives with two developers – Kent Highsted from La Vita Land developing Fireside and Pam Macinnis from Brown and Associates – both came out in support of the amendment.
“We see great communities being built out of diversity,” said Highsted. “We support this greatly.”
Council also approved zoning for the construction of a new religious institution.
The amendment to the land-use bylaw allows for a church development on a parcel of land located within the River Heights Area Structure Plan that is designated as ‘highway commercial.’ The parcel is located in close proximity to St. Mary’s Parish, just east off Highway 22. The piece of land totals three hectares in size and will be subdivided into two equal sections by the applicant, with half being used for the church and the remaining half yet to be determined.
Dietrich said this would be the first religious institution to be built off a highway, but that the location is becoming more common, as it provides ease of access while still catering to those within its community.
Finally, an omnibus amendment to the town’s current land-use bylaw was approved, which includes amendments that address consistency in number formats and use of terms, clarify processes and standards, provide better interpretations and improve the alignment of the bylaw with the Cochrane Sustainability Plan.
Questions were raised during first reading of this bylaw about changing the wording of ‘extended care facilities’ to ‘lodge accommodations’ to be more aligned with the province and more broadly define the possible needs for social housing.
Administration, however, recommended the change be omitted to provide more time to consider the possible re-wording.
