Town council authorized Mayor Judy Dahl and Norm McInnis, the town's chief administrative officer, to enter into a land exchange with Long Sky Developments in the northwest portion of town. Council made the decision at its Sept. 12 meeting.
The town wanted to transfer the 26.79 acres it owns west of 70 Avenue and south of the waste transfer site to Long Sky in exchange for the lands the company owns to the south because that land was more conducive to building recreation facilities that the town envisions. Those facilities include eight class-A ball diamonds arranged in a cloverleaf pattern for tournament play, plus an additional two adult soccer pitches and accompanying washrooms and other facilities.
The town estimates that the first four ball diamonds and two soccer pitches will be needed to accommodate the community's recreation needs in the next three to five years. The remaining facilities would be added as needed and would accommodate a town population of 15,000.
Craig Teal, principal with Parkland Community Planning Services, said the land swap benefits both parties. It allows the company to tie in services to their existing development, including roads and other infrastructure, while it allows the town to have a better-shaped piece of land that fits the community's need for added recreation facilities.
“The developer can stay to one side and work on infrastructure, tie in with what's coming in from the Vistas … and the town, you have a … better shape, configuration (of land) that is more workable for us. The previous plan was talking about a relatively triangular area which is a little more difficult to fit in rectangles, soccer pitches … or a ball diamond cluster. So that's one of the motivations was to … have a shape that worked well for us in terms of design options and not be shoehorned into narrower, triangular areas,” he said.
Mayor Judy Dahl said the developer, Bill Butler, has worked diligently with the town to satisfy both his needs and the town's in developing the area.
“He's been very patient, he's been very cordial and very inviting for a municipality to work with,” she said.
Dahl said the land swap – in addition to the adjacent area structure plan – is looking far into the future.
“These are all definitely in the future but we're working with a developer that has that vision and is working that with us, and he's willing to alter his development to suit the needs of the Town of Olds and that's very impressive, ” she said.
