Couns. Alex Reed and Morgan Nagel are continuing their push to decrease community growth as they promised during the election campaign.
The motion to reduce density targets follows a report commissioned by Nagel that shows Cochrane’s currently planned development has the potential to double the community’s population in less than 20 years.
With more than 9,500 new homes on the books and another nearly 2,500 in the planning stages, Nagel and Reed are hoping to cut back on the numbers by adjusting density targets – set at eight to 10 units per acre.
Current density targets have been often defended on the premise that once the Calgary Metropolitan Growth Management Board is established – a body that will jointly manage growth in the Calgary area – Cochrane’s current density target or higher will be required across the region.
Nagel countered that assumption as an ongoing threat that has yet to be realized and believes it is time for council to begin determining its own course for growth.
Density and growth have been a common issue across the country as major cities such as Calgary attempt to slow urban sprawl by increasing residential density. The side effect, and perhaps the best argument for regional management, has been what Statistics Canada calls urban spread – the population shift that leads more people to live outside major cities.
It is the urban spread phenomenon that has led to communities such as Cochrane and Airdrie near Calgary and Beaumont near Edmonton to being among the fastest growing communities in the nation.
The main argument against regional planning is the imbalance of power and loss of autonomy to smaller communities. It is very likely the Calgary Metropolitan Growth Management Board would best serve the city and with the rules being dictated to the smaller centres with varying interests and goals.
Nagel and Reed are taking the right and necessary step toward establishing targets that align with Cochrane’s interests. With the amount of development already approved, changing planned densities is likely the only way to slow the meteoric growth the town has experienced over the last decade.
While Cochrane’s growth has had positives there have been definite growing pains. We don’t want to see development stopped and stagnate the local economy, but the pace should be slowed and hopefully density targets are the way to go.
That being said, council must be careful to balance reduced density with increased sprawl, lest it become unfaithful to its philosophy of sustainability.
