Gerard Young was preparing himself for the worst.
He had already begun taking down the beloved birdhouses he built on a fence line behind his home in Sunset Ridge, after he heard Melcor Developments might be moving in to the vicinity to build more homes nearby.
"I took down 14 and I still have another 25 or 30 up, with 30 more in the garage that I made this year," said Young. "I thought that fence would be going, but so far it's stayed."
And stay it will.
Melcor will be taking down the barbed wire from the west boundary fence they constructed, the company's reps said. But the posts, which are home to the birdhouses where blue birds, sparrows, chickadees and other species have been known to nest, will remain in place.
"It was always our intention to take down the barbed wire and leave the posts," said Ruth Price, Melcor project coordinator. "We had been investigating, trying to find out who had put them up for a while now.
"We know how people love those birdhouses and they've taken a lot of care and attention, and we respect that."
Growing concerned about the fate of the birdhouses, Young reached out to Price last month. She assured him that the lands they are developing just to the east of his home, which Melcor has dubbed its Pinnacle development, would not require the birdhouses to be removed.
Young, who has become known to some in the area as the "birdhouse man," began building the structures as a personal project during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep his hands busy.
His wife Beverly helped him with the colour schemes.
"There are school groups that have come over from [RancheView] to talk about the birds that nest there," said Beverly. "They sent letters and drew pictures for Gerard this spring to leave on the front step, thanking him for making a home for the birds."
The couple was crushed at the thought that they might have to remove them, or find somewhere else to put them, but a conversation with Melcor proved that wouldn't be necessary.
"We always determined that that was a really unique feature of the area," said Price. "It's kind of folk art, and in a way it brings the residents together and builds a sense of community."
Young was relieved to learn that the birdhouses can stay, but he and his wife, along with some other residents in Sunset Ridge, said they have other concerns of the developer impacting the natural environment between the neighbourhood, Big Hill Springs Provincial Park, and Cochrane Ranche.
"We love the nature in the area," said Beverly. "We get moose and deer and coyotes, and the coyotes have a little nesting spot over the ridge."
Peter Fortna, another resident of the area, said he understands some of the developments were approved around 10 years ago, but that he hopes the area can remain as natural as possible.
"There's a lot of commentary on Facebook groups and I think there's a sadness that some of these places that are important to us might not be there anymore," he said.
Price said Melcor has taken all considerations into account to be the least invasive in building houses and wastewater and sewer connections as possible.
"A couple of things we looked at in the beginning was the traditional construction of an open trench," she said of the wastewater and sewer plans. "If you've seen that area, that would be a disaster.
"Some other options were creating a storm pond, or something of that nature, but there's no room on that escarpment and creating a storm pond there wouldn't be very good for the environment in that area."
During the consultation period with the Town, the company instead determined that an underground siphon would be the least invasive to the natural environment.
The siphon requires them to drill into the ground at two focus points, which Price said will make rehabilitation of those areas to its natural state a much easier process than the alternatives.
"It's not the cheapest option," she said. "But we really believe this is the best solution for this location."
Price said she's heard and seen comments on social media from residents in the area concerned about a dirt road suddenly appearing on the east side of the neighbourhood, which many think might be for construction vehicles to use as access to the Pinnacle development.
This is not the case, however.
"This is just a farmer spreading loam on their fields," she said. "It has nothing to do with any construction in Sunset Ridge and there's no roads going through that farmer's field."
Melcor will remain transparent in construction updates, Price assured, and she encourages residents of the area to stay up-to-date through any documentation provided to them by the developer and by visiting liveinsunsetridge.ca/construction/ for all the latest construction news.
