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This report is being written half an hour after returning from our community Town Hall. After being kept waiting by the developer for fifteen months to see their plans at the open houses they held this week, despite claims of making changes, the only difference I saw was an intensification of their propaganda and the number of units they want to build has increased by more than 400 from 1100 to over 1600 units. Rather than these plans dividing and conquering our community, as some would wish, they have brought our great community closer together, even more determined to oppose this monster development and the folks who want to profit from it.
The most significant aspect regarding their application for rezoning the land is their inability to get the information out to the people who matter most, residents whose land abuts the golf course and the community association. Evidently they did not consider the need to get their application copies out to us before their open houses. They submitted them to City Planning only days before the open houses were held, knowing that Planning did not have enough time to make copies and send them to us in advance. The developer's priority was to circulate a folder of details on the development to all aldermen and the mayor. It is obvious that they think they can sway City Council’s opinion in their favour and that we, the residents, have no voice and do not count. The traffic impact this development will have on our community, was not considered either. While they provided a Traffic Impact Assessment to the City they will not be providing one to abutting homeowners or the community. In due course after they have studied the TIA and made their recommendations, City Planning will release this information to us.
At tonight’s meeting we publically announced our strategy to treat plans to remove recreational land as an election issue and we will be surveying all candidates for alderman and mayor asking them where they stand on recreational land development within existing communities. Many communities in Calgary were designed with a recreational focus – golf communities like ours, lake communities and others with substantial greenbelts and walking trails. If the City gives the green light to this development, these communities could be next.
Like those of you who reported back to us tonight, I also witnessed empty rhetoric and spoke to developer representatives who informed me that they had no requirement to conduct open houses. It came across as though they were doing us a favour. In contrast, it was uplifting to see so many of you turn out for the Town Hall and the mandate you gave us to continue to fight this development was unanimous. Alderman Diane Colley-Urquhart; Wilf Richter, Manager, City Planning Dept; Tony Cleveland, President LUMAC; David Jacobs, Golf Course Chair, LUMAC; and Divona our Communications expert were the leaders and keynote speakers; almost 400 people attended. Due to the smaller meeting venue, it was standing room only. Media coverage was excellent. All of the major media outlets reported the story.
We have the ongoing support of our Alderman in our opposition to the removal of the recreational green space in the community. As well as lobbying candidates for civic office, we now have the task of informing other Calgary communities of the potential loss of recreational green space and will continue to seek the support of their community associations as the developer’s application progresses through the city planning process. Unlike Geo-Energy we are realistic in our expectations and know that this will be a long drawn-out process. It is highly unlikely that this application will go before the sitting City Council.
Respectfully submitted,
Gloria Dingwall
Gloria A. Dingwall
Manager, Technical Services
Libraries and Cultural Resources
University of Calgary
Telephone: [403] 220-3325
Email: gadingwa@ucalgary.ca
Fax: [403] 284-2109
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