The decision to temporarily hold off development on a section of land in southeast Black Diamond has left a Calgary developer baffled.
Alexander Bykovets, vice-president of Cantex Enterprises, had been working with the Town of Black Diamond the last six months on his proposal to build eight townhouses and four duplex units on a one-acre lot on Third Street SE.
However, he was shocked when Town council decided against rezoning the land to allow the development to go ahead until after a plan for the area is revised.
The decision was made at council’s Nov. 5 regular meeting, following a public hearing on a proposal to rezone the land from low density to medium density residential.
“I’m ready to walk away,” said Bykovets following the meeting. “(The land owners) will not wait a year. We don’t know what to do.”
Bykovets said he never got the impression from the Town that there would be difficulties until the day before the council meeting.
He said he received documents from the Town’s planning and development officer, Rod Ross, recommending that the Town hold off on rezoning until revisions are made to the area structure plan.
Ross said Bykovets was aware there were infrastructure concerns in the area he had planned to purchase land, but said he didn’t communicate his recommendation to Bykovets.
“That’s the nature of development,” he said. “There is an element of risk in developing land.”
Ross said the recommendations initially came from the Town’s Municipal Planning Commission last month.
“At some point we decided this is the time for the town to review the plans and figure out how the land can be developed and serviced properly,” he said.
Ross said much of the area south of Highway 7 consists of undeveloped land and a series of acreages.
As amendments were made to the area in response to applications by landowners over the years, more parcels of land contain medium and high density housing, he said. He added Cantex’s proposal would continue that trend of higher density housing.
“A lot of the land is urban reserve,” he said. “It’s restricted and doesn’t allow much development until it gets rezoned to a different land use.”
In addition to the town receiving letters of concern from area residents about the development increasing traffic and a lack of infrastructure to house such a project, Neil Graham voiced his concerns during the public hearing.
“Our major concern is traffic and the number of people,” he said. “There is quite a disparity.”
Eileen Brownell, who lives nearby, told council the Town should have addressed these issues years ago.
“These roads and streets and utilities should have been looked ahead,” she said. “Why have they not done that?”
Ross told council following the public hearing that any decision to further rezone the area to allow higher density development would be premature as the existing plan hasn’t been reviewed since 1992.
“We have to look at the impact the proposed development would have on infrastructure,” he said. “When you look at the broader context of potentially higher density development in the area we have to consider the broader issues of what happens when that area is developed with a significantly higher density than was originally intended.”
While the town allowed higher density developments in the past, upgrades weren’t made to accommodate them, Ross said. This includes park spaces, sidewalks and allowances for increased traffic, he said.
Ross said a comprehensive review of the area structure plan is critical.
“We haven’t got the information in place or the plans in place for the infrastructure needed to support higher density development,” he said. “There are merits to be putting higher density on that site – it’s close to downtown, pathways and adjacent to other property already zoned for medium density residential development - but we really need to get an understanding of the infrastructure requirements to support that land use.”
Council supported Ross’ recommendations.
“We need further review before any development is to happen up there,” said Mayor Sharlene Brown.
Bykovets said he feels blindsided by council’s decision.
“If all these questions weren’t reviewed during (previous) applications I don’t see how our small application will be a point of concern,” he said. “If they have these doubts about intersections these should have come up when (the previous applications) were approved.”
