Council rejected administration’s proposed Rivercrest Neighbourhood Plan in a 6-1 vote Oct. 11.
The proposed community development would be located across from the existing Willows community of River Heights, with River Heights Drive to the south and south of the community of Riversong.
The proposed 664-unit community is 94.28 acres, with predominant use as residential development. It would include eight acres for a future kindergarten to Grade 8 school site and some green space in the forms of municipal reserve pathways and environmental reserve.
Mayor Ivan Brooker said he would have rather seen council postpone the decision until administration could work with the applicant through the town’s recently adopted community enhancement evaluation (matrix), whereas the remaining councillors voted to defeat the plan.
Councillors brought up a few key issues, including the proposed 21-metre setback (rather than town standard of 22.5-metres) from the top of the bank development area and the reoccurring issues surrounding development along slopes; an Atco pipeline on a future school site (according to Brooker, this is common); a lack of green space; whether or not the land marked for a school site would be developed within a reasonable time frame or be a poor use of green space; and whether this community is simply too tied to density requirements.
Coun. Ross Watson referred to the neighbourhood plan as “more taking than giving,” with a negative nod to their plan to “maximize lands for residential development at the cost of open spaces.”
Coun. Morgan Nagel said he is “not interested in development talk until there is a concrete plan for the bridge and highway.”
“Council is encouraging the applicants/landowners to come back with a new application and to work with council earlier in the process through the Community Enhancement Evaluation,” said Laurie Drukier, senior communications adviser for the town.
The Rivercrest Neighbour Plan was identified as requiring its own neighbourhood plan, following the 2011 adoption of the River Heights Area Structure Plan.
An initial draft plan was submitted by BSEI and PlanPro in 2012 and has undergone a number of revisions since then, and brought before council this week for final consideration.
