Yet another future development has been added to a growing pile by Cochrane town council.

Greystone is the first area structure plan (ASP) approved by new town council and it narrowly passed by a 4-3 vote, in what is a visibly split on council over exactly how much more development should be OKed for Cochrane.

The debate over the 300-acre blended development of residential and commercial land largely came down to a debate over whether the town needs to bring more development onstream. Prior to the final readings of the bylaw, there was a procedural ruling that saw a motion put on the floor by Councillor Alex Reed.

Councillor Alex Reed opted for option three, provided by the administration, to defeat the bylaw. Administration advised the motion was not properly worded. Instead of giving Reed an opportunity to adjust his motion, Mayor Jeff Genung passed it off to Councillor Tara McFadden, a proponent of the development.

Openly annoyed, Reed suggested administration get its "act together" and not complicate the situation by providing invalid motions.

After the meeting, Genung said the motion was not placed on the report as a trap for opponents of the development and said he went to McFadden in the heat of the moment.

Reed's call to shelf the motion was not as much based on the resulting ASP, which he said had many merits, but on the timing.

"This is a classic case of a development ahead of its time," said Reed.

Reed believes the town doesn't have the infrastructure in place to support the development, including transportation corridors and water supply and says in good conscience he couldn't support the development.

In addition to this, Councillor Morgan Nagel believes the development leaves untapped the potential of the town's last piece of riverfront property for high-end head office properties.

He agrees with the Riverview community's call for a better buffer between residential lots and the adjacent industrial land of Spray Lake Sawmills, which he believes will remain in its current location for the foreseeable future. In fact, he questions the need for more residential properties of this type at all while favouring a larger commercial component.

"Our residential market is totally flooded," said Nagel. "We have several hundred homes listed for private sale. Studies done this winter exposed we have approval for potentially over 9,000 homes and this will be just another huge community to add to that pile. I just don't think there is a demand for it."

Also opposed, Patrick Wilson questioned the rush to approve another development and isn't comfortable with the timing, especially in light of our buckling traffic infrastructure.

These concerns were countered with the arguments that the ASP is just the first step and there's the opportunity to make specific changes in other steps before the development is approved. Up next is the neighbourhood plan that is already in front of council and has been tabled awaiting answers from the planning department on specific areas. Council was also told no development can be approved if it exceeds the town's allowed water usage. Essentially, the town has made no real progress in securing an additional water licence to take it beyond supporting approximately 40,000 residents.

Susan Flowers said she has talked to many people who are excited about the idea of moving to the new development and fully supported the ASP.

Councillor McFadden said it would be "short-sight to the extreme" to not approve the ASP that will take the place on an abandoned gravel pit. She believes its a final touch to Cochrane's downtown and believes its potentially an award-winning mixed-use design that will accommodate economic, residential, social and recreational needs to help prepare Cochrane for the future.

She said the project would help pay for Cochrane's infrastructure needs.

"Otherwise you will have to use the existing taxpayers to pay for infrastructure for future needs.  The existing residents will have to use their taxes for services they don't need."

Councillor Marni Fedeyko said she believes the developers have had a solid back and forth discussion on the development and have made adjustments based upon public and town feedback and likes the overall concept. She points out much of the future development for Cochrane was already approved by the previous council and not this one and this council shouldn't shoulder the blame.

Reed countered by exclaiming council should not add to the problem by approving further development.

Councillor Nagel says by approving the development council was turning a blind eye to the vast majority of people who do not want to see it go forward and questioned why the public was engaged if they're concerns are simply going to be ignored.

Mayor Genung said while he had questions to address at the neighbourhood plan level, he likes what he sees and says the ASP will fill some voids in the community. He believes there's plenty of time to address issues at the neighbourhood plan and land-use plan levels, including adjusting the timing of portions of the plan. He believes the town is addressing infrastructure needs right now and believes the underway pass on Centre Ave. will be well underway by the time homes are developed in the area, two to three years down the road.

"I'd like to move from the planning stage to the doing stage. To me, a high-level plan of this nature is not hard to approve at this point."

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