Municipalities still awaiting Wind Walk decision
Foothills: Provincial board still reviewing development
A provincial board presiding over a dispute between the MD of Foothills and the Town of Okotoks regarding the Wind Walk development is in the process of completing its decision.
However, Jerry Ward, Alberta Municipal Affairs public affairs officer, said there is currently no timeframe for when the Municipal Government Board (MGB) will make a ruling on the development.
“They’re drafting up a decision and the panel will all have input into that,” he said.
The MGB held a nine-day hearing into the Town of Okotoks’ appeal of the MD’s approval of the development’s area structure plan (ASP) in 2010.
The hearing is still open and once it’s closed the board has 30 days to announce its decision. Once a decision is revealed, the panel will contact the municipalities and it will be made public.
According to Ward, the hearing has been left open so the board can obtain more information it may need for a final decision.
“If they close it they don’t have that authority any more,” he said.
In June, an MGB spokesperson said decisions take about 90 days to be completed. Ward would not say if the Wind Walk matter is taking longer than usual.
“It’s obviously a complex issue and they want to make sure they get it right,” he said.
MD Reeve Larry Spilak said it’s “uncommon” for the board to take this long with a decision, but the MD will wait however long it takes. The MD will respect the board’s final decision, he said.
“We’re patiently sitting back, we know we can’t push the process,” said Spilak.
The development, which is led by renowned television personality Mike Holmes, 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. The project includes cutting edge environmental technologies intended to reduce energy and water consumption.
During the June proceedings, the Town argued the development goes against the intermunicipal development plan (IDP) with the MD, while the MD believes the development is allowed to proceed under the plan. At the time, the Town asked the board to quash the ASP and have it go back through public hearings and approval after discussions between the two municipalities over the Joint Planning Agreement and a new IDP are complete. If the board won’t agree to quash the ASP, the Town is asking for it to be suspended until there is more certainty about outstanding issues, such as water supply.
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