MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - More than a dozen people attended the 45-minute virtual public information open house on Feb. 2 regarding the proposed Noble Business Park east of Olds.
The project is located west of Highway 2 and south of Highway 27 at NW 35-32-1-5, immediately west of the existing Netook Crossing Business Park. The total site area is 62.26 hectares or 153.83 acres.
The plan is to develop an industrial and commercial business park, with phase 1 being 20.32 hectares, Brian Murray, partner and senior planner with B&A Planning Group told the meeting.
The first phase would require rezoning from the current agricultural district to business park district and subdivision application for the creation of eight new parcels, he said.
The Mountain View County's municipal development plan supports new zoning as industrial business park, and the business park will be guided by the county's business, commercial and industrial design guidelines for site planning, landscaping and character, he said
Noble Equipment is creating the new business park due to the fact the company has outgrown its current lease site in Olds, he said.
A concept plan is required for the entire quarter section. The first phase will include seven industrial and commercial parcels, including larger configurations for large operators and one public utility lot.
Regarding transportation, the road network will include one primary access point into the proposed development via Highway 27 and Rge. Rd. 11, he said.
The access will be shared with the existing Netook Crossing development, while an emergency access will also be provided at Rge. Rd. 12.
The business park will be serviced with natural gas, power and telecommunications, and water will be provided through individual water wells to each property as well as on-site septic storage, he said.
Both storm ponds provided within the site will have fire tanker access to support fire suppression needs.
Technical studies completed for the project include a traffic impact assessment, servicing study, history resource assessment, geotechnical study, environment site assessment Phase 1 and 2, and desktop biophysical assessment, he said, noting a groundwater assessment is current underway.
Regarding the project’s proposed timeline, February will see the concept plan, phase 1 land use redesignation and subdivision application made to Mountain View County, he said.
Spring 2022 will see the county’s technical review and external circulation of the application, with the municipal planning and public hearing in summer 2022, he said.
During the open house online participants asked a number of questions:
• Is there concerns with the development of this land with so much vacant lots in Netook? Murray replied: “We recognize that the market for industrial land has been challenging over the last few years, not only COVID but the oil sector and a lot of land that has perhaps had been intended to be eaten up quickly taking the long route. Part of what we have done here is prepared a concept plan that has several phases. Our intent is not only to control the amount of land that is brought on stream but also provides us the ability to wait and balance the market needs.”
• What portion of Phase 1 will be occupied by Noble? “It is the very first parcel in the top northeast corner of the property. That’s the size we are looking at. Noble Equipment is looking for about 12 acres and all of these parcel sizes can be changed.”
Meeting host Martha McClary, engagement specialist with B&A, says the company will be posting updates on the noblebusinesspark.ca website as the project progresses.
