Working in conjunction with the Town of Cochrane, Apex Builder Group and Excel Homes presented a new Stage 1 and Stage 2 area structure plan (ASP) for the Heartland community to council March 9.
The new plan is an update to the previously-approved Cochrane West ASP, which council approved in 2007, and according to Ryan Boyd, senior vice-president, land and lot supply for Apex, is a vast improvement.
“We never really fell in love with the original plan,” said Boyd, adding that the 2007 ASP was ‘not a terrible plan’ but one that needed to see some updates.
Some of the key changes to the ASP include improving upon the community’s connections in areas other than the above-grade crossing over the railway tracks, which was proposed in the central portion of Heartland in the original ASP.
The new plan calls for three connection points across Highway 1A as well as a potential future connection at the eastern portion of the development implemented into the Highway 22 and 1A improvements.
Additional east-west roads within Heartland were also proposed, which would improve access in the community itself.
A green space buffer is also part of the new Heartland ASP, adding a linear pathway between the CP Rail tracks and houses to the south.
The draft plan looks to build a six-metre wide strip of land to be landscaped, which would contain a two-metre wide pathway that would run the length of the entire community.
Some of the other features of the new plan include interspersed housing density, rather than area-specific single family and multi-family developments; two additional children’s play areas; reducing the original size of commercial land from 45 acres to eight in an effort to encourage the downtown to be the main commercial area of town, while allowing smaller commercial areas in the outer neighbourhoods; and a school site, which if not utilized by Rocky View Schools in the future, could be turned into play fields.
