Okotoks town council is asking its counterparts in the MD of Foothills to go back to square one with a proposed development on the town’s south

border.

MD of Foothills council is scheduled to reopen the public hearing Thursday at 10 a.m. on the area structure plan (ASP) for the Wind Walk development which is led by reality TV star Mike Holmes.

Okotoks council is asking the ASP be quashed so the two municipalities can discuss how development could proceed under the new Joint Planning Agreement (JPA) between the Okotoks and the MD. The Town also wants the MD to ask the developer to hold off on the project until changes are made to the existing intermunicipal development plan.

“We don’t want them to approve that subdivision,” said Okotoks Mayor Bill McAlpine

The development is proposed for a 145-acre parcel just outside Okotoks’ south border across Highway 7 from the Cornerstone area. Plans for the area call for 457 single family and multi-family homes to be built at the site, which includes a small area for commercial

development.

MD council held a public hearing on the development in September and recessed the hearing to a later date to allow council to be able to consider new information as it became available.

Central to the Town’s concern is a requirement of the recently signed JPA which states Okotoks and the MD must work together on projects within four joint development areas on Okotoks’ boundaries — one of which includes the Wind Walk development.

The JPA also calls for public consultations to be held by July and amendments to the intermunicipal plan to be approved by January 2011.

According to the Town the two municipalities need to start with a ‘clean slate’ for the Wind Walk lands and other areas outside Okotoks to move forward with a review of the intermunicipal plan.

McAlpine said it’s not a matter of opposing development on the land, but the Town wants to work together with the MD to plan for development on its borders.

The Town has previously expressed concerns over the development’s potential effects on Okotoks, such as increased traffic, impacts on groundwater and Town services.

McAlpine noted the Town and MD have resolved a dispute over the Sandstone Springs development through the JPA process. He said he is hopeful they can come to a similar resolution over the Wind Walk development.

“If we can work out something with regards to Wind Walk, down the road there may be a way to resolve our concerns,” he said.

The move came as a surprise to officials with the Holmes Group.

“We had hoped that the joint agreement would create opportunity for open dialogue with the Town of Okotoks to create joint solutions to joint issues,” said Liza Drozdov, director of communications for the Holmes Group.

“We’ve been unable to achieve them so far but we continue to respect the regulatory framework and process that the MD Foothills requires for all developers from the region.”

She said they will take a wait and see approach as they head into Thursday’s public hearing.

Okotoks Coun. Stephen Clark said there are a number of issues that need to be worked out, such as how pedestrian linkages could be provided to ensure people can walk safely across Highway 7 from the development to the Town.

“I still have some concerns. I think the form in which Wind Walk is proposed is not comprehensive enough,” he said.

Clark said development outside the Town’s boundaries should be more rural in nature, with densities closer to what is found in country residential subdivisions.

“The joint development areas should be more rural and less urban. That’s certainly my interpretation and that’s what I’ve been talking about,” he said.

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