Adjustments to proposed boundary expansions to accommodate future growth in Black Diamond will be available for public viewing next week.
The Town of Black Diamond and Foothills County revised the proposed annexation of four quarter-sections, which was presented to the public last fall, after considering feedback from landowners and completing servicing studies for future water, sewer and transportation networks.
The new proposal calls for annexing 779 acres, or four quarter-sections, of land east and south of Black Diamond to provide land for 50 years of growth.
It includes County land between Black Diamond and Turner Valley south of Highway 7 that would create a continuous border between the towns in the event of amalgamation.
The public can view the changes at an open house in Black Diamond’s council chambers April 2 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“The areas have changed a little bit due to what we heard from some of the landowners,” said town planner Rod Ross. “One landowner wanted to be annexed and a couple of landowners in another area didn’t want to be annexed so we looked at the merits of making some changes.”
Ross said a quarter-section removed in the revision north of Highway 7, slated for business development, turned out to have some servicing challenges.
“The land couldn’t be serviced in a way that allowed for the small incremental phases that the town needs in order to grow,” he said. “We don’t grow really fast so we need for the land to be developed in small phases.”
Ross said installing the infrastructure at once would be too costly.
“Now our land-use concept shows business development south of Highway 7,” he said. “That land can be phased in a little bit more easily.”
A committee of Foothills County and Town of Black Diamond councillors and administration have engaged in annexation discussions the past year to allow Black Diamond to invest in planning, engineering and financing strategies as it secures land for future residential, commercial and industrial development growth.
The most recent proposal reveals a quarter-section of land south of the Willow Ridge subdivision near Oilfields General Hospital, as was requested by those landowners, Ross said.
“We had services going there anyway,” he said. “It made sense to bring that to the Town.
“It squared off the growth area. The landowners supported it.”
Most of the proposed annexed land is for residential development, with industrial development south of Highway 7 at Black Diamond’s east end and some commercial development on both sides of Highway 22 at the town’s south end, said Ross.
“It’s consistent with the joint growth strategy,” he said. “We’ve already got a vacant 11-acre parcel south of the hospital in the Willow Ridge subdivision. We’re looking at marrying that on the east side of the highway when we annex that quarter and also south.”
Next week’s public information session is an opportunity for area landowners and interested citizens to view the proposal and provide input, said Ross.
“We’re doing this to inform the public and to receive their comments,” he said. “We are well into the negotiation and we’re hoping to make an application shortly. If we hear something that causes us to reconsider what we’re proposing we would have to consider it.”
Ross said the Town is looking at annexing land to provide itself with a 50-year supply in anticipated growth.
“It’s a good long period of time to be able to plan comprehensively for land use infrastructure,” he said.
He added that while the Town is not purchasing the land or taking ownership of it, affected property owners will be regulated by the Town and be taxed at the Foothills rate for 25 years until a triggering event, once an agreement has been signed and approved by the government.
“It’s a negotiation between two municipalities and the Town and County would then submit an agreement to the Municipal Government Board,” he said, adding that any financial arrangements have not been finalized between the two municipalities.
“Annexation does not change ownership rights and owners aren’t required to develop or sell their property, it’s changing from one municipality to another,” he said. “Both municipalities consulted with affected landowners to minimize impact on owners of annexed lands.”
