Riverview residents and the Town of Cochrane are feeling vindicated after a recent court ruling upheld a promise made by the Cochrane Golf Course (CGC) in 2007.
The story around the dispute dates back to 2003, when the CGC applied for rezoning to build a multi-family development on the course’s driving range. Area residents opposed the idea, which did not advance, but the company returned in 2006 with another rezoning application to allow for the construction of a condo development on a section of their land.
Council approved the development in 2007, and the row houses alongside the driving range were built. The proviso was that a restrictive covenant was put in place to ensure landowners whose property backed onto the golf course that they would have a say in any future development of the golf course.
Fast forward to this spring, the golf course applied to remove the covenant registered by the Town against the CGC lands. At an April 2023 hearing, CGC argued the covenant was an abuse of bargaining power that amounted to “selling zoning” and was outside council’s authority, and that it’s outdated and unenforceable.
In her written decision rendered June 19, Alberta Court of King’s Bench Justice Barbara Johnston sided with the Town and residents of the Riverview neighbourhood, stating the agreement “struck the appropriate balance between competing interests in its determination of what was in the public interest.”
“I am not persuaded that what transpired in this case was the sale of zoning,” her ruling stated.
“Rather, it is the developer, CGC, that is looking to escape its contractual obligations under an agreement it freely entered.”
The judge’s decision goes on to state that CGC was facing significant opposition to its development in 2006 and to overcome that opposition, it offered the covenant with the obvious and logical intention of convincing Riverview residents that if this development was allowed to proceed, then the golf course would remain intact and there would be no further development on the CGC Lands.
“Now that CGC has taken the full benefit of the development that was facilitated by its offering of the Covenant, it seeks to be relieved of the very obligations that was instrumental to it getting its development approved,” she wrote.
“In the circumstances, the Riverview residents can enforce their rights under the Covenant whether the Town can or will do so.
“CGC has waited years to bring its challenge and has taken all benefit from the agreement that it now seeks to set aside.”
In her concluding remarks, Johnston commented on a land use issue.
“As long as people continue to play golf, there is a need for golf courses and the CGC Lands fill that need,” she wrote.
Julie Sengl’s home backs onto the fourth green.
She is also the chair of the steering committee Riverview residents formed to address concerns surrounding development of the golf course lands.
For her, what’s built and what’s not built on the golf course has nothing to do with property values.
“It’s a matter of quality of life,” she said.
“Riverview is a special place and an awesome community . . . let’s not blow this one.”
She called the issue “a long, hard journey,” and argued green space is more precious than ever as Cochrane grows. For her, the court ruling is about security for the community.
“Somebody’s going to hold the man accountable to his word,” she said. “It comes down to integrity, and this is what you promised, now live up to your promise.”
When Mayor Jeff Genung‘s name is mentioned in relation to this issue, Sengl said with a laugh that she was “a thorn in his side” when he was a Town councillor in 2007.
“I remember that whole Riverview Golf Course issue like it was yesterday because it was quite contentious,” Genung said, “as many issues in Cochrane are.”
He cautioned the end result of this recent court ruling does not necessarily mean the door has been shut on all future developments on the golf course. Rather, he said whatever may be proposed in the future must meet the approval of the adjacent landowners.
“Originally (the covenant) was put in place to protect the residents and give them some peace of mind that they would have a say in what was happening in land adjacent to theirs, and that was signed off on all those years ago and it’s been upheld, and that’s exactly what should’ve happened,” Genung said.
The owner of the golf course referred The Eagle to a spokesperson, who asked not to be identified, and offered no comment other than stating they had some issues with some media coverage of the proceedings in Calgary.
