A piece of the Sirocco lands could come under the Calgary umbrella if a proposed annexation goes through.
City of Calgary council voted on March 15 to begin the process of acquiring an approximately 400-acre piece of land from the Sirocco area structure plan, located south of 210 Ave. S.W. and north of Sirocco Golf Club.
Calgary Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart, who sits on the intermunicipal committee (IMC) between the City and Foothills County, said she feels the land is a “remnant” that was left out of the original annexation and area structure plan (ASP) in the late ‘90s.
“There’s a lot of development in that area now and the infrastructure is all there, the pipes are there,” said Colley-Urquhart. “It was unfortunate, to me, that it was left out in the first place.”
She has been working toward bringing the land into the City for three years and said the matter was taken to the IMC to ensure the County might be amenable to the idea, where it received general support.
“It finally passed to take the initial steps for the annexation process and define what that will look like and who will be represented at the table,” said Colley-Urquhart. “The administrations with Calgary and Foothills County will start fleshing this out and then come up with what the committee will look like, then there’s a public consultation process.”
There could be other interested parties who own surrounding land and want to jump in as well, she said.
Cost of the annexation process won’t be determined until the work and consultation is outlined, but for the City of Calgary the burden of the estimated $100,000 will be shouldered by the developer as part of the City’s policy of developer-funded ASPs.
Foothills Reeve Suzanne Oel said that doesn’t cover the County’s costs, which are unknown at this time.
The County is currently waiting on an official notice of motion for the proposed annexation to determine the exact lands in question and initiate negotiations, she said.
“We have to see what we’re looking at, and then we next reach out to our taxpayers,” said Oel. “In the process of responding is a full-on engagement with the County and that’s where it will be a cost to us.
“We like to include all our residents in our decision-making, especially if this affects people in ways we don’t understand and this gives everybody the chance to join their voices, to be part of the conversation.”
She said council will reserve judgment on whether to proceed with the annexation process until public consultation is done.
County council is approaching the proposed annexation with an open mind and in the spirit of fair negotiation, she said, but there could be some mixed feelings about handing over the Sirocco ASP lands.
“The Calgary Metropolitan Region Board’s draft growth plan is so limiting to rural development and this area structure plan is really the only area structure plan we have that fits into the CMRB plan,” said Oel. “Annexing would take away development potential for the County.”
