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Retail and schools planned for north Okotoks

Development of the D’Arcy lands in the next few years will see more commercial and school sites added to Okotoks’ north end. Town council approved a northwest Okotoks area structure plan following a June 27 public hearing.

Development of the D’Arcy lands in the next few years will see more commercial and school sites added to Okotoks’ north end.

Town council approved a northwest Okotoks area structure plan following a June 27 public hearing. No residents spoke in opposition to the plan.

Developer, United Communities, will build an elaborate pathway system to connect a range of businesses, said marketing director Steve LePan.

“What you’ll see is a good variety of products, a little bit of everything,” said LePan. “It will really be an interconnected community.”

The intent is to create a “live-work-play” neighbourhood, he said. LePan said the area will include businesses and services, such as grocery stores, coffee shops and other retail creating a village-like concept, he said.

“The Town has been working toward that active transportation model, being sustainable and making things more accessible on-foot,” said LePan. “Working in partnership with the Town of Okotoks, we tried to work with those goals and develop a community that fits within its model.”

He said it’s too soon to know what the specific businesses and retail outlets will be.

United Communities also can’t say yet what types of housing will go up at D’Arcy, though LePan said the area will be mixed-use, in line with the Town’s new municipal development plan that raised the minimum density to eight units per acre.

The northwest Okotoks area structure plan also provides space for two K-9 schools on a shared site, he said.

The golf course will be undisturbed, though access to the clubhouse will be altered, he said. D’Arcy Ranch Golf Club will be accessed off Bannister Drive rather than Milligan Drive, with a more direct route across the lands.

“It’s being moved because it works in with our proposed design of the area,” said LePan. “There won’t be any disruption to access as it changes over.”

The time line for development is subject to approval of the outline plan by the municipal development commission, changes to the land use bylaw by council and development permit approval, he said.

If the plan continues to move forward, he said there could be some development of the area by the end of 2016.

Home construction will likely begin in the southeast corner, he said, where services are already available. The D’Arcy Gateway commercial area will come later.

“There’s demand for commercial as soon as possible on the north end of town, so we’d like to get that underway, but it’s too soon to say when that may be possible,” said LePan.

Okotoks senior planner Colin Gainer said the Town is currently reviewing the outline plan submitted by Stantec Consulting Ltd. on behalf of United Communities.

“The outline plan will specify the road networks, pathway systems and active and general transportation network,” said Gainer. “There’s still a lot of detail to work out.”

Some of those details include working out the water capacity for servicing the early phases of development at D’Arcy and ensuring a stormwater management plan is in place.

If the outline plan is approved by the municipal development commission in the fall, he said it’s possible there may be some stripping and grading of the land late this year or early 2017.

“We’re working out the area strategies and road networks at this time,” said Gainer. “There are some concerns we’ll need to be cognizant of going forward.”

The concerns were raised mainly by the public during consultation sessions that took place between April 2015 and April 2016, he said. They included connections to existing communities, a proposed reconfiguration of Northridge Drive and dealing with drainage and overland water flow.

Gainer said United Communities refined the plan over the course of the year and has dealt with any potential issues with drainage in its development.

Traffic flow is something the Town and developer will continue to monitor and address as the development proceeds, he said.

“We need to move development forward in a way supportive of the direction and policies of the Town but be respectful of existing development and residents,” said Gainer. “That’s why we have such extensive public engagement.”

Public engagement over the past 12 months has been done by Stantec Consulting Inc. Beginning last April the company held a series of three open houses showcasing proposed area plans, looking for feedback.

“I think overall it’s been positively received by the public,” said Stantec associate Truper McBride. “They’ve seen levels of refinement as we moved forward and took feedback into consideration.”

He said Stantec and United Communities hope to come before council in the fall for land use bylaw amendments to the parcel to allow for the D’Arcy development.

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