A delegation from the Netook Crossing Business Park has appeared before the Mountain View County steering committee overseeing the development of a new area structure plan (ASP) that will guide planning and development for a portion of the county immediately east of Olds.
The ASP sets out various designations for the plan area, including agriculture, business, residential, cultural and tourism, highway commercial, local commercial and recreation.
The delegation, which appeared before the committee on July 16, was comprised of representatives from Prodev Limited Partnership, Neuroese Properties, and b&a planning group.
Delegation member Nathan Petherick, with b&a, outlined six key considerations they would like the committee to consider during its deliberations (quoted):
1. That the committee considers the representations and feedback provided from major stakeholders, existing residents, business lot owners and established businesses in Netook during its deliberations.
2. That the committee considers the relationship between land use diversity and density, and its impact on the development community's ability to plan, finance and deliver water and sanitary services to Netook.
3. That the committee assesses and explores the principles and practice of conservation residential design to support future residential development in the plan area and as a means to support farmland preservation, open space preservation, passive and active recreational opportunities and service delivery.
4. That the committee consider the significant investment of developers and various other landowners in Netook which has taken place in good faith based on plans put in place by MVC and the significant financial benefits of Netook to the county.
(The combined capital investment to date is about $30 million on seven quarter sections of land in Netook, said Petherick).
5. That the committee considers the spirit and intent of the MVC/Town of Olds memorandum of agreement when looking at land use and servicing provisions to guide the development of the 2-27 area structure plan.
6. That in consideration of the above items, the committee considers and recommends appropriate amendments to the municipal development plan as required necessary to support the vision and development of Netook Crossing as a model of sustainable rural development.
Delegation member Herb Styles, with Style Realty Inc., called on the committee to urge council to amend the recently adopted municipal development plan, which reduced the number of lots allowed from 240 lots per quarter section to 80 with municipal servicing and 48 lots without municipal servicing.
The steering committee has already identified 10 principal goals of the proposed ASP.
During last week's committee meeting, members passed a motion to modify the original goal of ensuring “the plan complies with the county's municipal development plan” by adding “as part of the process the ASP committee may make recommendations to council to amend the MDP.”
Area structure plans, such as the one being developed for highways 2 and 27, must comply with the MDP, unless council passes a bylaw amendment allowing for exceptions.
Also during last week's committee meeting, Kim Smith, with the community group Friends of Netook Crossing (FNC) made a presentation to the committee.
FNC members, including area residents and landowners, want the committee to “recommend to council that Netook be treated as a special area within the Highway 2/27 ASP to recognize the unique opportunity Netook presents to MVC and its taxpayers,” she said.
Smith presented the committee with three dozen form letters signed by FNC members. The letter reads, in part: “I am disappointed with MVC council's decision to not honor agreements with the developers of Netook Crossing Business Park and council's decision to repeal the Netook Crossing concept plan.”
In a separate letter received by the committee on July 16, landowners Sandy and Terri Loree said, in part: “If a new council can overturn any decisions made by this steering committee and the present council, why not delay final approval of this new ASP until the new council confirms its acceptance and then at least the new plan could be in effect for a set period of time.”
During the July 16 meeting, committee members received a summary report on surveys returned following a June open house.
Comments from respondents included: “The MDP is the plan that the majority of county residents agree with”, “I'm not in agreement with the new MDP”, “We as a county seem to lag behind other counties”, “Put the project on hold. There is plenty of acreages in the county and also lots close to Olds.”
On July 16 committee members also made a number of changes to the plan's design map, which was first unveiled at the June open house.
Those changes, along with updated policy directions and details, will be brought back to the committee at its next scheduled meeting on Aug. 26.
