Wind Walk’s developers unveiled a new plan for the community they hope to take to town council after provincial approval of Okotoks’ proposed annexation.
First announced in May 2008, Wind Walk was touted as a cutting edge, sustainable development, lead by reality TV star Mike Holmes, within the MD of Foothills on the south side of Highway 7 near the intersection at Secondary Highway 783.
Developers revealed a new area structure plan (ASP) for the 145-acre site at an open house on April 5. If annexation plans are approved, Wind Walk will be built as part of the Town of Okotoks.
The ASP still includes a site for a K-9 school and a commercial area, but developers are now planning to build two-and-a-half times more homes than first considered.
After years of negotiations, and changes to their plans, developers say they have retained the same principles that guided their original vision.
“All those principles of walkability, sustainability, the fact that we wanted to be a smart community and all that infers and we have embraced all of the principles that we had previously under the MD and more,” said Allan Mar, CEO of Alberta Foothills Properties Ltd. The company is the owner and developer of the Wind Walk land.
When Wind Walk was first announced, plans at the time were to build 457 single family and multifamily homes and commercial space. Developers were proposing cutting edge environmental technologies to reduce energy and water consumption.
The new ASP unveiled last week calls for 1,147 homes, with a density of eight units per acre, with single family, semi-detached and multi-family homes.
The community will be accessed from two new intersections on Secondary Highway 783. Plans also include a small commercial site next to the main entrance, a network of pathways and a storm water pond at the northwest corner.
Wind Walk will be tied into the Town’s water and wastewater systems.
Mar said the company has acquired a water license it intends to transfer to the Town to service Wind Walk.
“We have an existing license that we had promised to the Town and it’s still available,” he said.
Mar said they have an agreement with Internet service provider Axia to provide fibre optics and high speed internet available to every home in the community.
The homes would also be solar-ready for homeowners who want to install solar panels, he said.
Mar said the area structure plan will be submitted to the Town once annexation is complete. Public hearings will be scheduled first with the Municipal Planning Commission and then Town council for final approval.
Mar’s target date to begin construction is Oct. 1 if annexation is successful and the project is finally approved.
It has been a long and sometimes contentious process to get to this point.
Wind Walk was the subject of a long-running dispute between the Town, MD and developers after MD council approved an ASP in 2010.
Okotoks unsuccessfully challenged the decision with the provincial Municipal Government Board and in the courts.
The Town and developers struck an agreement in late 2015 where the developers agreed to support Okotoks’ annexation plans and the Town agreed to provide water services.
Mike Holmes said everyone involved in the project is proud of the plans and the work done by everyone involved over the years.
“We all worked together to receive approval for Wind Walk’s planning under the MD,” he said. “We are grateful for their past support and for the pending annexation of Wind Walk and Okotoks as well.”
Jamie Dugdale, Okotoks planning services manager, said the Town met with Wind Walk’s developers as they drew up new plans for the community so they are aware of what standards and requirements the Town will have for an ASP.
“In the anticipation of the annexation being successful and getting a positive answer from the Province, we have been working with the Wind Walk developer,” he said.
For an MD resident at last week’s open house, one issue remains.
Kelly Lush, who lives south of the Wind Walk location, said she hopes improvements are done to Secondary Highway 783 and the intersection at Highway 7 before development begins. She said the development will bring more traffic to the area.
“My biggest concerns is that they take care of the road size and transportation prior to development,” she said.
The provincial government has completed a study on twinning a section of Secondary Highway 783 south of Okotoks.
Lush said the highway should be widened near Wind Walk to handle increased traffic.
