OLDS — Council has agreed to move a planned block of trees from near the middle of a proposed residential subdivision to the border between it and another quarter section of land in the north end of town.
In its new location, the 10 to 12-acre tree reserve will sit just below the planned site for a school.
The development is part of the town’s updated Municipal Development Plan (MDP), which was passed at the tail end of that discussion.
The MDP dovetails with the latest Intermunicipal Plan, a planning document agreed upon and passed by the town and Mountain View County a couple of months ago.
Discussion on the matter, including a public hearing, lasted more than 93 minutes during council’s Jan. 25 meeting.
During the public hearing, no members of the public spoke in favour of the MDP.
Two people – George Roseboom representing Discovery Plains Developments Inc. and Rosetree Developments, and property owner Neil Godwin – initially spoke against having tree reserves on their property, saying it would cut down the amount of land available for development and deter people from buying property there.
However, in the end, both were amenable to a proposal advanced by a few town councillors to move the tree reserve so it straddles the two properties.
Initially on a map, the reserve, designated by a large A, known as an “icon” was located at the northern edge of town, just northeast of the Olds Hospital and Care Centre.
“To our understanding, we’d only be left with about 1.5 acres to create a great community for people to live in for pathways and parks etc.,” Roseboom said.
Godwin voiced similar concern.
"I strongly support the tree reserve," he said.
However, he added, “you can have the icon shown (and) have a text saying something else, but when somebody’s say going to buy a piece of land or develop a piece of land, they’re going to look at it and go ‘oh wow, that’s a lot of land that they want off this little 12-acre piece.”
He said that would make it hard to sell that land.
Councillors sympathized with those concerns.
However, they also said that a large tree reserve in the southwest of town has proven very popular with residents and homeowners alike and they’ve discussed for hours the need for more trees in the north end of town.
They projected a tree reserve in these two proposed developments would prove as popular as it has in the southwest. In fact, they suggested it might enhance the value of homes there.
"We're not talking about a toxic waste dump here, we’re talking about a tree reserve that is incredibly popular in our southwest area,” mayor Michael Muzychka said.
“A number of properties actually are more desirable that abut up against that tree reserve.”
It was noted that the area structure plan for Discovery Plains has been in the works for at least 10 years.
Councillors asked why they hadn’t learned of Roseboom’s concerns before. Director of operations Scott Chant said over the years, plans for the area – including tree reserves – have been conveyed to various representatives of businesses connected with the project.
Roseboom and Godwin indicated a desire to work with the town to make development happen. Coun. Mary Anne Overwater indicated council wants to work with them too.
“We want development in the town of Olds,” she said. “We don’t want people running away because we plunked a tree reserve in the middle of their whole development and have taken up their green space.”
Muzychka thanked Craig Teal of Parkland Community Planning Services and all others involved for “your incredible hard work on this very momentous Herculean task that we’ve accomplished here.”
