Town council gave the seal of approval on its urban design master plan last week.
The plan outlines major goals for Okotoks’ downtown area, including the possibility of a new plaza, green spaces and sensitive infill leading into mid-rise buildings. It came before council after public consultation over the past six months and council’s feedback in the fall led to some minor changes to the document.
There are some exciting items in the master plan, and the vision for a truly beautiful and bustling downtown seems ideal – but the Town needs to ensure it doesn’t verge on idealistic instead. Sometimes reality just can’t live up to the dream.
The Town of Okotoks needs to tread carefully when setting forth with its goals from the master plan. Not everything can be achieved at once, and change must ebb and flow with the change in businesses or population of the downtown area, including Elma Street residents and business owners.
However, it’s even more important to see some change occur sooner than later.
The Town has been known to hire consultants and spend tens of thousands of dollars on studies that seem to lead nowhere.
There must be action taken.
It may take a while to redesign storefronts and architectural elements of the plan, but things like installing bike racks or posts, making waste receptacles more accessible, and putting up benches to encourage people to hang out downtown as far out of reach.
A plaza or green roofs are lofty dreams and will take more planning and budgeting, but some of the low-hanging fruit needs to be picked now if residents are to believe it was worth the investment.
Otherwise it’s just another plan collecting dust on the Town’s bookshelves.
