A public hearing for the neighbourhood plan on the Summit of River Heights revealed some concerns about the proposed 369-home development.
Following a presentation from the developer, La Vita Land, council deferred its decision to April 10, with mixed reaction from councillors to the 9.03 units per acre density development.
“It is the epitome of a cookie-cutter neighbourhood,” said Coun. Morgan Nagel, who would rather see the entire application rejected rather than revised and questioned how the development would make Cochrane a better place.
“What is driving this pro-development ideology in Cochrane?” added Nagel, pointing out that he is not in favour of the “pocket parks” that the developer reconfigured following its initial, unofficial presentation to council earlier this year.
Area residents Lyle Balmer and Margaret Clark both presented to council. Balmer said he was concerned about the relaxation of architectural controls already evident in his community of the Willows.
Clark, who lives on River Heights Crescent, expressed significant concern about the proposed development that would back onto her backyard.
“I can’t understand how they would think this is a good plan,” Clark told the Eagle, stressing that prior to purchasing her home 14 months ago she and her realtor were “diligent” about finding out more about what would be built on those development lands in the open fields behind her house.
She felt the developer was not straight-forward with her about the size and scope of the Summit development plans and when asked whether she would have purchased her home, had she known, she said no.
Mayor Ivan Brooker said he was “frustrated” that council was getting “off-topic”. Normal protocol when discussing neighborhood plans is to talk about zoning, parks, pathways and amenities.
Architectural controls, housing styles should not come into play at this time.
Brooker applauded that the developer had a challenging space to work with and was in favour of the switch to “pocket parks” to break up the green space throughout the community.
He stressed that area structure plans indicate developments are planned and he doesn’t understand how area residents could think otherwise.
Justin Mauro, senior development manager for LaVita, said that his team understands the concerns surrounding the development in the community, but that the steep grades in that area create limitations. He said he and his team have done their best to go “above and beyond” with their development design.
Councillors Jeff Toews and Gaynor Levisky were the forces behind the recently adopted Community Enhancement Evaluation – which seeks to prevent these circumstances from occurring: where residents perceive a lack of transparency from the development community.
Toews said proper signage to indicate development plans on lands is something the public will start seeing out of the evaluation, so that people don’t have to dig for information.
Toews expressed concerned that the development contained no R1 (single-family housing) considerations.
Coun. Mary Lou Eckmeier highlighted that the community is “high density in a small amount of space.”
Coun. Ross Watson, who had no major issues with the proposed development, said he felt deferring the vote on the neighbourhood plan until the next council was more appropriate, in order to give council time to digest. He added general concerns about preserving wetlands within the town and not at a provincial level.
Mauro said following neighbourhood plan approval, they would have to get land use approvals, If construction was to begin next year, although market-driven, he anticipates full community build-out to take four years.
