The City of Calgary released a series of documents today.  Together, they represent Geo Energy's application to rezone Shaw-Nee Slopes Golf Course.

If you live adjacent to the golf course, you can expect to receive a similar set of documents from the City by mail soon. Geo Energy also has a series of open houses planned for residents to introduce their plans.  They take place April 12, 13 and 14 from 3:00 - 8:00 at the golf course. Please take the time to attend.

Shawnee-Evergreen Community Association has scheduled a Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, April 14 at 7:00 at the Peace Lutheran Church, at the top of the hill behind the Highbury.  The purpose of the meeting is to talk about Geo Energy's plans and to review once again the process that will unfold as the application moves forward.

Shawnee-Park Outline-Plan-Applicant Submission:

Shawnee-Park_Outline-Plan-2010-04-05_R7_Final Submission for.pdf (6.05 mb)

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Shawnee-Park_Outline-Plan-2010-04-05_R7_Final Submission for.pdf (6.05 mb)

The SECA Land Use Committee (LUC) has learned that a re-zoning application for the Shawnee Slopes Golf Course has been received by the City of Calgary Planning Dept.  At this time here are the known facts:

• Early in the week of October 11, 2009 an application was received by the city Planning department.

• Later during the week of October 11, 2009 additional information was received in the form of a box. The contents of the box were being reviewed by the file manager and it would not be known until early the week of October 18, 2009 if the information was valid.

• On Monday, October 19, 2009, the LUC Chair contacted The City of Calgary Planning Department for an update on the contents of the box.   It was confirmed that the contents of the box had been reviewed and that the application had preliminary application clearance.

• It was also stated by the Planning Dept, that the applicant must submit several information packages for the circulation mail out.

• Once the application was considered complete, the review process would start with all the city departments which will then also include the public engagement process.  The community association will be receiving all the relevant information as part of the public engagement process.

• On Friday, October 23, 2009, the LUC Chair contacted the city Planning Department to enquire as to whether they had received the requested information packages and whether a file number had been assigned to the application.  Neither had been completed.

Please continue to view this webpage for updates as we receive them.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn Gunn
Chair, SECA LUC

As I write this article, it is early June and I woke up to the snow falling.  In the June edition of the SECA newsletter, I mentioned that Geo-Energy had a pre-application meeting with City Hall administration.  SECA also took the opportunity to meet with these administration people to find out what the next steps are. 

Since that meeting happened, we have learned that Geo-Energy has apparently submitted a re-zoning application to City Hall, however it was returned to them being considered incomplete and more work was required.  A new submission date is unknown at this time.   

Your SECA Land Use Committee (LUC) is continuing to form teams of volunteers to work on our review and rebuttal of the application once we receive the summary from City Hall administration.  If you are interested in joining a team please contact our Coordinator of Volunteers, Melissa Baisi at melissa@secavolunteers.org or 403-455-1148

1. Environment - we have a team looking at the environmental impact of any rezoning/redevelopment of the golf course lands;
2. Community Outreach - this team will introduce the potential problems that will be faced in other Ward 13 communities (i.e. traffic) should the application for re-zoning or re-development be approved. 
3. Plan It  Calgary/TOD – this team is researching how we can use/respond to these policies
4. Traffic Assessment – this team will be formed as a sub-committee of the application review once we have received the application summary.

Over the summer months as new developments take place, we will post them on the SECA website www.shawnee-evergreen.net, so check there regularly to ensure you don’t miss anything.

As always, you can contact me via email at cdgunn01@shaw.ca.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn Gunn
SECA, Vice President/Land Use Committee Chair

Last fall, the community learned that the owners of the Shaw-Nee Slopes Golf Course had received an offer to purchase the land for residential development. Although the offer fell through, it became clear that we had to mobilize if we wanted to influence the changing landscape of our community. The Shawnee-Evergreen Community Association formed a Land Use Committee, which has been working on the golf course issue from two perspectives:

• Preparing to oppose an application from a future buyer to rezone the golf course land for residential development.
• To work with Shaw-Nee Slopes Golf Course representatives to find solutions that are agreeable to the community.  

• Highbury (240 units) across from Fish Creek LRT station,
• Canvas by Medican (300+ units) north of Sobeys,
• Evergreen Grove (193 units) in the heart of Evergreen, and
• Sanderson Ridge by Medican (354 units) north of 146 Ave SW in Evergreen.  

 We already have traffic problems that impact our daily commute and they will continue to grow when these developments open their doors to thousands of new residents. Now, imagine the impact of filling the many hectares of golf course land with more residential development. It’s scenarios like this that the volunteers are currently researching in preparation to oppose any future rezoning application.  

 Traffic is one area that the Land Use Committee is researching, but there are others including utilities, density and the relationship between the golf course and Fish Creek Park.  

 Approximately one dozen volunteers are actively engaged in research under the able direction of John Ackermans, a recently retired project manager. Although many live in the community, it is interesting to note that several volunteers are from neighbouring areas. They recognize the potential impact of losing the golf course to residential development and have stepped forward to lend their expertise.  

 This is a well organized, professional research team and they continue to welcome new volunteers each month. If you are interested in getting involved, we have a spot for you. You can expect to spend no more than two to three hours a week on this project. Feel free to contact me directly if you would like to learn more. We welcome any questions you may have about the work of the Land Use Committee and our efforts to prevent residential development of the golf course.  [edited for website by Norm Rousseau] You can click here, or on the Contact tab in the upper right corner of this site, and submit a short note or attach a file. We’ll get back to you directly and, if appropriate, post our response online.   

Richard Arnold
Chair,
Land Use Committee
Shawnee Evergreen Community Association
403-236-9350 / arnoldrm@shaw.ca