Pilot Ken Fowler rolls his Harmon Rocket plane over the Rocky View countryside, June 28.
The upcoming Airdrie Air Show will be held July 22, and will feature the Canadian Snowbirds.

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Water worries don’t stop development
Dawn Smith

The long-awaited Buffalo Hills development got a green light from Rocky View council June 23.

Despite concerns over water supply, council approved an application to rezone about 85 acres of agricultural land near Conrich to allow for phase one of the development.

"We are really pleased," said Wayne Smithies, president of Buffalo Hills Developments Ltd. "We’ve been on this since 2004."

Phase one of the planned multi-phased project is slated to begin in early 2010 and will include 142 residential lots, 6.5 acres of linear parks and a 12-acre public school site.

The completed development, located just five minutes east of Calgary, is designed to house about 3,650 people in 1,440 single and multi-family homes. In addition, plans include a town centre complete with shops and services.

The Conrich area was recently identified as a growth node, which is described as "an urban-style community where a combination of land uses will be designed to create vibrant and livable development centres," by both the Rocky View Growth Management Strategy (GMS) and the Calgary Metropolitan Plan.

However, the location, land use, form and character of the area had not yet been identified for the area, raising concern for Rocky View administration, which recommended refusal of the application.

Additionally, administration raised concern that due to water supply uncertainty within the MD, there is a risk that there would not be enough water to complete all the phases.

Despite the concerns, developers are "comfortable" with the water they have.

Developers obtained a preliminary water certificate from Alberta Environment in March 2009, which gave them to the right to use and treat ground water to supply phase one.

"We don’t consider there to be a limited amount of water," said Ron Wrigley, community-planning consultant for Buffalo Hills Development Ltd. "Our water that we have proven here today is sustainable."

Lois Habberfield, MD reeve, supported the application, saying that many communities in the MD, including Irricana and Beiseker, developed on ground water.

"For heaven’s sake, don’t vote ‘no’ because they are using ground water for the first phase," said Habberfield.

"It is ludicrous to think that we can’t use ground water to service this type of area. If you don’t have a municipal system that’s what you do," Coun. Jim Rheubottom agreed, saying, "Langdon has been 15 years on ground water and I don’t see any reason why this development would be any different."

Coun. Harvey Buckley said the application was "premature" since water had not been secured for the entire project.

"The big issue is water," said Buckley. "To support a development of this magnitude on ground water is just playing with danger. We are trying to ultimately create complete communities and this has one piece missing: water."

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