Rocky View County (RVC) council gave first and second reading on March 24 to a Public Services District redesignation on a section of land outside of Cochrane. The land would be used for the future development of a high school for the Town of Cochrane. According to the applicant, Rocky View Schools (RVS), the new school will accommodate 1,200 students from both the town and the county within the next nine years.
Located adjacent to the town boundary northeast of Highway 1A and immediately east of Horse Creek Road, the land is currently unserviced – and according to RVC administration, a connection to the town’s regional water and wastewater system is unavailable.
“Bow Valley High School, which was built to accommodate the developments in that area, was also built on County land and not serviced,” said councillor Liz Breakey. “It caused huge angst and a huge expense. I do not understand why Cochrane will not service this if this is being planned for the needs of their residents.”
RVS director of facility planning John Wheatley said finding a large enough site to house a high school, appropriate parking requirements and sufficient space for fields is a challenge. Currently, he said, there is no serviced site within the town that could accommodate the facility.
“This is on the edge of town, so it will be easier to service than some of our other options,” he said. “But this way, we will have the land secured so we won’t be caught like we were with Bow Valley, when we were behind the population growth.”
According to Wheatley, RVS is trying to effectively manage its growth throughout the jurisdiction, which he said is expected to grow in the range of 65 to 70 per cent over the next ten to fifteen years.
“Right now, this is just a placeholder – the development of the school won’t happen until the population catches up with it,” he said, adding the school would likely be able to serve students not only from within the Town of Cochrane, but also from the nearby communities of Cochrane Lake and Bearspaw.
Despite administration’s evaluation of the proposal against the policies of Institutional and Community Land Use within the County Plan and the policies of the Town of Cochrane/RVC Intermunicipal Development Plan, area councillor Bruce Kendall said he was concerned about the lack of planning documents usually required with a redesignation application.
“I would like to have some very rudimentary information on how much traffic this would bring onto Horse Creek Road, if you have 1,000 students attending high school at this location,” Kendall said.
As the future development of the school depends on the development of the surrounding neighborhoods, Wheatley said studies like the Traffic Impact Assessment will be completed when that information is available. Administration said RVS would be required to provide these assessments prior to the approval of a subdivision application.
“I really am struggling with the idea that developers aren’t developing big enough chunks for the school board to ever get a high school, because it’s just simple math, for every resident Cochrane adds, they need .0025 of an acre for a high school,” said Reeve Margaret Bahcheli. “I think there is some confusion between what is forward thinking and what is trying to bail out what is just plain bad planning.”
Kendall said while he understood the need for a high school in the Town of Cochrane, he is still concerned about the impact of the increased traffic on the adjacent roads. However, he moved to give the bylaw first and second reading, which both passed 5-4 with Breakey, Councillor Jerry Arshinoff, Bahcheli, and deputy reeve Lois Habberfield voting in opposition.
Rather than request permission to proceed to third reading, however, Kendall moved to have the item tabled until the May 12 meeting. The motion passed 6-3, with Councillor Rolly Ashdown, Habberfield, and Councillor Earl Solberg opposed.
“I think it’s important to plan for future high schools, but I think it’s important to also plan these high schools in areas that have servicing, and that RVC doesn’t have to install traffic lights on highways, or have to retrofit communities to put sidewalks in, and so on,” Habberfield said.
“I think we could find somewhere more suited, as this is not an appropriate area.”
