NEWS PHOTO EMMA BENNETT
Signs are up for Medicine Hat's newest community Coulee Ridge.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Talks are underway to figure out how to bring utility service and roads to a proposed lake and coulee view community in Medicine Hat, and do it most cheaply for the out-of-step development, the News has learned.
A formal request to update long-standing, but moribund planning documents in the south end was brought to the municipal planning commission on Wednesday.
They show that the proponent of Coulee Ridge, a potential two-phase, 200-lot community on prairie land west of Saamis Heights, is proposing scaling back and altering a utility scheme for the area. It and a schedule were laid out 10 years ago when a 16,000-home community known as Cimarron was proposed.
That project collapsed in the economic downturn after 2008, but this year, Calgary-based Enclave Ventures unveiled plans for a higher-end, secluded community in the northernmost portion of several sections of grassland.
Company officials say they are pleased with local enthusiasm for new development, and say smaller infrastructure investment at first will be key.
“We’re very impressed with the support for the project in Medicine Hat – both in the market and with our good history of working with the City of Medicine Hat,” said Don Sandford, of Enclave, stating that half the lots in an initial 44-lot phase have been sold.
Grading and work on phase one will go ahead this spring, pending approval, and a second larger phase could move forward within a year, he added.
Recovering utility infrastructure fees – known as offsite levies – from lot sales is a key consideration for developers. They pay fees early on, then recover costs from lot sales.
Similarly, city hall typically pays up front for major sewer, water and road projects, then recoups 60 per cent of the costs through fees as other communities are built and serviced.
It still remains a “priority greenfield development” area however, said development commissioner Stan Schwartzenberger. He described talks as ongoing with technical aspects still being reviewed.
City planning staff, as well, recommend moving forward even though it’s unusual to green light stand-alone subdivisions.
The company feels activity will gain momentum and speed up build-out in the area.
“In any development you incur large up-front expenditure,” said Blair Hann, of Scheffer Andrew planners, who is an agent working for Enclave. “We’re working with the city. There could be some cost recovery from (when development occurs on) adjacent lands, or there could be some throw away costs, which is part of any development … but there’s a desire to get development moving in the Cimarron node.”
On Wednesday, amendments for the Cimarron plan specific to Coulee Ridge and the potential utility scheme were approved by the planning commission. It would scale back some infrastructure requirements and major systems to deliver water, power, gas and sewer service.
Specifically, it suggests:
– Postponing a sewage lift station in the area, instead using a new force main to connect the homes to lines near Southridge Drive;
– Paving a stand apart section of 10th Avenue SW to join the community to S. Boundary Road;
– Building a single emergency access route either east to Saamis Heights, or southeast to S. Boundary Road;
– Collecting storm water in a pond to be filtered and used in a recreational lake planned for the second phase;
– Bring water to the site via new lines along S. Boundary Road, then a utility right of way along 10th Avenue.
Proposed changes now move on to city council for final approval.
