It’s back to the drawing board for developer Qualico, as they now go to a plan B for the Southbow Landing area in south Cochrane.
The news will be a welcome relief to residents of adjacent communities who voiced their opposition to the plans at public hearings in January and February.
Town of Cochrane council considered approving the designation of the Southbow Landing area as a Direct Control District, permitting medium to high density residential development with restricted building heights for three parcels of land in the neighbourhood.
But at the regular council meeting May 13, they voted down Bylaw 01/2024, which proposed the Land Use Bylaw amendment. As a result, the existing land use remains in place, and the proposed bylaw is considered rescinded.
The proposed amendment would have applied that designation to three parcels of land in the Southbow Landing community. A Direct Control District was being proposed for these lands in response to public feedback received through the public hearing process.
Administration’s report said the proposed district was intended to add additional restrictions to the subject properties beyond what is currently required in any existing land use district and provide greater certainty that concerns expressed by residents during the Public Hearing process will be minimized.
An open house was held on November 15, 2023, to discuss the options for the area. There were two well-attended public hearings (Jan. 22 and Feb. 5) in 2024 to discuss how to move forward with proposals for housing options, and the proposals were brought forward to council on April 15, 2024, at a committee-of-the-whole.
At the public hearings residents of adjacent communities said that if high density housing were allowed in the area, there were concerns over: shadowing on existing properties, increased traffic on River Heights Drive, obstructed views, lack of infrastructure, no alignment with the ‘small town feel’ of Cochrane, decreased property values, deceased sense of privacy, and increases in crime rates.
The development applicant then amended their application to Town council, asking that they consider designating the area a Direct Control District, which “would provide for medium to high density multi-unit dwellings compatible with both low density and high density Adjacent Districts as envisioned in the Southbow Landing Neighbourhood Plan.”
In the discussion before the vote, Coun. Alex Reid expressed misgivings over changing over to a Direct Control District in terms of responsibilities moving forward.
“I just kind of feel that moving to Direct Control kind of skirts the responsibility of council in terms of being able to approve the development,” he said.
Coun. Marni Fedeyko said she wasn’t against high rises, but “am against them butting up against other people’s homes who weren’t expecting it.”
She said some of the comments made by adjacent residents opposed to the development at the public hearing had stuck with her.
Coun. Morgan Nagel also voted against the motion, based on wider feedback.
“We spend a great deal of time, money and resources on public engagement . . . we go to trade shows, we do surveys . . . and the number one thing I hear over and over from residents is to stop turning Cochrane into a city,” he said.
“They’re telling us do not build these apartments all over Cochrane.”
In the end, the motion was defeated unanimously, so there will be no move to use a Direct Control District to manage the approvals process.
The next steps in the development process for the applicant are review and approval of subdivision, development permit, building permit, and construction.
The Town’s administration said at the meeting in theory, construction could begin in 2025-2026.
