All but Coun. Morgan Nagel gave the nod to a first reading of a new smoking bylaw.
The feedback form is on cochrane.ca and will be available for public comment until Feb. 23, to come back before council Feb. 27.
The bylaw is the result of a nomination proposed by Coun. Jeff Toews and seeks to prohibit smoking on all town-owned recreational facilities – namely the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre (SLSFSC) and the Cochrane Arena.
Robin Mitchell, SLSFSC general manager, penned a letter to the town indicating his opposition to the proposed bylaw – that it would impact staff productivity if smoking staff had to take the time to walk off the site (including the parking lot) for their breaks.
Mitchell outlined additional concerns such as enforcement and overall ineffectiveness of the bylaw.
He proposed better signage to better identify no-smoking areas, which would also list the bylaw fines for violators. He added the current no-smoking within five metres from doors is sufficient.
Coun. Toews commented that it’s “embarrassing” to hear that the manager of Cochrane’s sports and recreation facility defending smoking in any capacity and is not in support of the proposed bylaw – which aligns with Calgary WinSport.
Community Enhancement Evaluation in practice
Council had its first opportunity to use the town’s recently adopted Community Enhancement Evaluation on Monday night.
Developers for the third stage of the community of Riversong, Precedence, and the smaller community of the Summit of River Heights were on deck to present their neighbourhood plans for both communities.
The evaluation provides council an opportunity to provide feedback at the neighbourhood plan stage, prior to a final submission, in an effort of transparency between the town and development community.
Councillors listed concerns with Precedence including the West Coast-style architecture and the preservation of the natural escarpment.
The Summit, a much smaller community, was noted as a more challenging space to work with and more difficult to create an unique, attractive housing product; pocket parks, rather than a larger park space, was suggested as a possible strategy to brighten the area with more green spaces.
Overall, councillors responded favourably to both presentations and recognized the developers had “come a long ways” in their neighbourhood plans in the area.
