Council green-lights 14 new communities on Calgary's outer edges

Calgary city council voted after a prolonged discussionMonday to allow 14 new suburban communitiesto be built in the coming years.

City administration hada list of 11areas for development, with seven of them in the north end of the city.

Three additional communities one in Glacier Ridge, one in Belvedere and one in South Shepard were brought forward and approved.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi says it's a critical decision process, because the city must find the right balance in managing growth and its associated costs.

• Committee approves 8 new communities to be built in Calgary

"Not only does it handcuff the city for generations to come in terms of where we put fire halls, where we put bus routes, how we build roads we want to make sure those are efficient and thoughtful investments," he said.

"It also is really helpful for the developers, even though they argue with us sometimes, for us to get it right."

The 14new communities would belocated within the following provisionally-named area structure plans (ASPs):

• 4 in Glacier Ridge in the north.
• 2 inBelvederein the east.
• 1Haskaynein the northwest.
• 1 in East Stoney in the northeast.
• 2 in Keystone Hills in the northeast.
• 2 inRangeviewin the southeast.
• 1 in Providence in the southwest.
• 1 in South Shepard in the southeast.

There also would be a couple areas set aside for commercial and industrial development.

Nenshi said land usedecisions the city made some years ago, which were strongly debated with developers, have provento be wise choices.

"I've had so many homebuilders come to me and say, 'The fact that the city was very thoughtful about land supply in 2013, 2014, when we were really fighting for you to release more land, kept us all in business because, if you had released all that land in 2013 and 2014, we would have built on it and we would have all over-extended ourselves,'" he said.

"So that little dance between the regulators and the developers is incredibly important."

The new communities could add more than 18,000 single-family homes and more than 9,000 units such as condos and townhomes.

Coun. Druh Farrell voted against adding the new communities and voiced concerns over affordability.

"I'm very concerned that the very members of council that added new communities that we may or may not be able to afford will continue to erode the essential services we provide in our operating budget," Farrell said.

She also said she was concerned taxpayers will be on the hook the longer it takes for the new homes to be filled.

"That lag time between the investment in those communities and the payout through property taxes the longer that lag time, the more Calgarians have to pay."

Administration recommendedadding a three-quarters of a percentage point hike to next year's proposed property tax increase so these areas can receive new infrastructure and services.

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