Uptown redevelopment process gets underway

The process to begin redeveloping the uptown core through an Area Redevelopment Plan will be kicking off tonight with a public meeting beginning at 4:30 p.m. at the Olds Royal Canadian Legion.

Planners from Parkland Community Planning Services, along with town staff will be on hand to explain what the process will be going forward. The presentation at 7 p.m. will cover the same ground, explaining what an Area Redevelopment Plan is.

“Following that, we'll have an opportunity for just general discussion for those who wish to share their thoughts on the future of the area and what the (uptown) means to them,” said Craig Teal, director of Parkland Community Planning Services, the town's planning agency.

Teal said tonight's meeting will give planning staff and a steering committee that has been set up to explore options for the core the base from which to do further refinement of a plan. Two spots for the general public are still available on the steering committee.

The steering committee's role is to meet on a periodic basis to talk about some of the issues facing the uptown and to host some of the future public sessions as the plan goes forward. The committee will also be reviewing material as it comes forward and then sharing it with the broader community to gauge the public response to work done to that date. The committee will be made up of representatives from the Uptowne Olds group, senior town staff, the Olds Agricultural Society and members of the general public.

In early summer, a visioning workshop will be taking place to “set out what the future aspirations and the goals (for the uptown) should be,” Teal said.

Beyond that, a “planned strategy” or rough draft, will be tabled for public review as well as a subsequent draft.

“The last opportunity for public input is the formal public hearing that town council would host directly,” he said, noting that should take about a year.

Town administration will also be using a community revitalization levy that would be applied against the increase in assessment as the result of improvements made to properties. That money will be available to the town to fund future improvements for 20 years.

“The piece of assessment that increases through improvements that will be done as a result of the redevelopment plan … we get to keep that money in the community for a 20-year period. The incremental portion that would typically go to the province to fund education will stay in the community for a 20-year period,” said Norm McInnis, the town's chief administrative officer.

McInnis said through the ARP, the hope is that improvements will lead to increased assessments which will in turn be redirected back into the uptown core.

“The community revitalization levy requires us to put together a plan on how we will use that incremental money over a 20-year period to reinvest it in the redevelopment area. With all of the stuff going on in the uptown area … the potential for significant money to reinvest in the uptown area will come through this community revitalization levy,” he said.

Once the town has determined how it will use the money, it will be submitting that to the provincial government for approval.

Infrastructure improvements and possibly streetscaping will result from the funds that are generated through the levy.

If significant money is available through the Alberta Main Street Program and the community revitalization levy, that could be a real boon to the community, McInnis said.

“There really will be new sources of revenue for us to reinvest in the uptown area so all of this is coming together at … just the right time. I think that as our community continues to grow, the place and the purpose for uptown will be redefined through the redevelopment process,” he said.

McInnis said the key will be determining how the town will use the new funds to redefine what the core looks like.

“Renewal of infrastructure in the uptown area is something that these new sources of revenue will help us to finance,” he said.