Updated: 08 August, 2016: Please see important date changes below
The final plans for the Harvest Hills Golf Course redevelopment proposal have been submitted to the City of Calgary by QuantumPlace Developments Ltd., on behalf of Cedarglen Homes, and released on the Harvest Hills Golf Course Lands – Land Use Amendment and Outline Plan Application page. The plans can be downloaded and viewed by clicking on the links under the “Links” tab at the bottom of the page. (Please do look through the other links and tabs, as there is a lot of useful information there.)
The City have stated that they are going to recommend this proposal to the Calgary Planning Commission, with some specific conditions.
In order for this proposal for re-zoning to go ahead, the City must make some changes to our Area Structure Plan (ASP), which is the document that shows how the area was intended to be built, and shows the bylaws related to it. You can download and read a copy of our ASP, the Calgary North ASP. Harvest Hills, Coventry Hills, Country Hills and Country Hills Village are in the Phase 1 Calgary North ASP document; Panorama Hills is in Phase 2 Calgary North ASP document.
Dates to be aware of:
JULY 20th:
What: Harvest Hills Golf Course Redevelopment Information Session
Where: Harvest Hills Alliance Church
When: 2:00 PM – 8:00 PM (drop in)
Why: Residents from ALL Northern Hills communities are encouraged to come and view the plans, ask questions, and find out how this development could affect YOU.
Although the City won’t be taking feedback on the actual plans at this session, they will be taking feedback on the Area Structure Plan amendments, which will be required for this development to proceed. If you would like to give feedback on the plans, you still can, but will need to write to the file manager (see below).
JULY 25th:
What: DEADLINE for letters on the Harvest Hills Golf Course Redevelopment Proposal
When: end of day
Why: Please send your thoughts on the final version (v.3) of the proposed development (download via the “Links” tab) to the City of Calgary Planning Dept. file manager:
Jessica Siriphokham
Planning, Development & Assessment
Mail code #8076
P.O. Box 2100, Station M,
Calgary, AB Canada T2P 2M5
or email to: jessica.siriphokham@calgary.ca
AUGUST 25th:
This item was dropped from the August 11th CPC agenda to be reviewed by senior management at the City of Calgary and was re-scheduled for August 25th CPC.
What: Harvest Hills Golf Course Redevelopment goes to the Calgary Planning Commission
Where: City Hall, Engineering Traditions Committee Room
When: August 25th, at any time during the meeting. The agenda is usually published a week before the meeting at: http://www.calgary.ca/PDA/pd/Pages/Public-notices/Calgary-Planning-Commission-agenda/Calgary-Planning-Commission-agenda.aspx
The room is quite small, and the public cannot speak at these meetings, but residents are welcome to attend and watch the proceedings. However, you may also watch a live stream of the meeting via the City’s public access webcast from your computer.
(Top tip: the live stream works best using Internet Explorer, and requires a flash plug-in; if you have upgraded to Windows 10 and can only find Edge easily, search for “Internet Explorer” on your computer using the Cortana search bar)
SEPTEMBER 14th:
What: Harvest Hills Golf Course Redevelopment Information Session #2
Where: Best Western Freeport – Oxford & Windsor Room, 86 Freeport Blvd NE
When: 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM (drop in)
Why: Residents from ALL Northern Hills communities are encouraged to come and view the plans, ask questions, and find out how this development could affect YOU.
The City won’t be taking feedback on the actual plans at this session, but you will have an opportunity to speak to the file manager and other City staff. If you would like to give feedback on the plans and how this development will affect you, you still can: write to your Councillor and/or come to the Public Hearing at Council (see below, Oct 3rd).
You may also write to the City Clerk for your letter to be included in the information package all the Councillors receive with their agenda:
WRITING TO THE CITY CLERK
Correspondence regarding a Public Hearing matter and intended for distribution to Council in their Agenda, must be received in the City Clerk’s Office (address below) prior to 10 a.m. on the second Thursday prior to the Public Hearing Meeting date. Mail, e-mail, fax letters to:
City Clerk #8007, The City of Calgary
P.O. Box 2100, Station “M”
Calgary, Alberta T2P 2M5
Email: cityclerk@calgary.ca
The second Thursday prior to the October 3rd Public Hearing is Thursday, September 22nd.
If you are writing to the City Clerk, please include:
- the file information: LOC2015-0102 / Harvest Hills Golf Course
- the date of the public hearing (Oct 3rd, 2016)
- your name and address
WRITING TO YOUR COUNCILLOR
If you live in Harvest Hills, Coventry Hills, Country Hills Village or Panorama Hills, you are in Ward 3 and your Councillor is:
Councillor Jim Stevenson, Ward 3
The City of Calgary
Historic City Hall
700 Macleod Trail SE
PO Box 2100 Stn M, Mail Code #8001A
Calgary, AB T2P 3M5
T: 403-268-2530 F: 403-268-8091
Email: ward03@calgary.ca
www.calgary.ca/ward3
If you live in Country Hills, you are in Ward 4 and your Councillor is:
Councillor Sean Chu, Ward 4
Office of the Councillors
The City of Calgary
PO Box 2100 Stn M, Mail code #8001A
Calgary, AB T2P 2M5
T: 403-268-3727
Email: ward04@calgary.ca
www.calgary.ca/ward4
WRITING TO THE MAYOR
Mayor Naheed Nenshi
Office of the Mayor
The City of Calgary
P.O. Box 2100 Station M, Mail Code #8069
T: 403-268-5622 F: 403-268-8130
Email: themayor@calgary.ca
www.calgarymayor.ca
OCTOBER 3rd:
What: Harvest Hills Golf Course Redevelopment Public Hearing (at Council)
Where: City Hall, Main Council Chambers
When: October 3rd or after; this agenda item could be scheduled for any time during the meeting, and the public hearings often last for more than one day, especially if the agenda is very full or there are items which take up a lot of time. The agenda is usually published after 4:00 PM on the Wednesday of the week before the meeting at: http://agendaminutes.calgary.ca/sirepub/meetresults.aspx
Why: Residents from all Northern Hills communities are encouraged to come and let Council know how they feel about this development and how it will affect them and their community; or just come and watch, in support of those who are going to speak. Members of the public are each given up to 5 minutes to address Council at these public hearings. City Council has the final say on all development proposals, regardless of CPC’s recommendation. All voices matter at this stage.
If you would like to speak, but need more information or help with preparation, please contact our President, Rick Lundy: president@northernhills.ab.ca or our 1st Vice-President, David Hartwick: advocacy@northernhills.ab.ca
For general information on speaking at Council, please check out: www.calgary.ca/CA/city-clerks/Pages/Legislative-services/Legislative-Services-FAQ.aspx and read this handy guide: www.calgary.ca/CA/city-clerks/Documents/Legislative-services/committee.pdf
Some Information to Consider:
Despite what some people would like to think, this does not just affect the residents immediately bordering the golf course.
At full build out, at the proposed zoning, this development could add an extra 936 UNITS to Harvest Hills. Using a really low estimate, if each unit only contained an average of a family of 3, this would add another 2,808 residents to the area. This is not counting the possible secondary suites, as with it being considered a new development, the area will also be automatically zoned for secondary suites. To put this in perspective, as of the 2015 Civic Census, the whole of Harvest Hills was counted as having 7,593 residents living in 2,575 dwellings. This development would be like adding on an extra 36% of the whole population of Harvest Hills into a 9 hole golf course (not counting the secondary suites).
From the Municipal Development Plan, a complete community is defined as: “A community that is fully developed and meets the needs of local residents through an entire lifetime. Complete communities include a full range of housing, commerce, recreational, institutional and public spaces. A complete community provides a physical and social environment where residents and visitors can live, learn, work and play“.
This plan does not have a Neighbourhood Activity Centre (NAC), which would contain neighbourhood stores, services and public facilities that meet day-to-day needs, within walking distance for most residents. So where will these residents go to access their day-to-day needs, and more importantly, how…?
- There will be extra bus stops, as shown on the plans, but currently Transit has no plans to add more bus routes or increase the frequency of the (currently inadequate) buses. So, how do you think any new residents will get to the local shopping areas? How do you think they will get to work? If you think rush hour(s) on Country Hills Blvd, Harvest Hills Blvd, Beddington Trail and Deerfoot are bad now, consider the effect of this development on our local road network. This area is not in the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) walk zone for the proposed green line LRT, either.
- The NHCA is constantly advocating for more amenities and services in the Northern Hills for the 58,000 residents living here. Sure, we have Vivo, but it has the smallest footprint and the largest catchment area of any recreation facility in the whole city. Have you ever had to line up to be able to book your kids into swimming lessons or summer camps, or ever struggled to find space on the equipment at the gym? Up to 936 more families from Harvest Hills could be joining you soon.
- Harvest Hills has only one school – Ascension of Our Lord. Where are all these new families going to send their kids to school?
Interested in hearing more? Visit our Harvest Hills page or download our responses to the plans the developer has submitted to the City:
- NHCA Response to Outline Plan for Application LOC2015-0102
- NHCA Response to Amended Outline Plan for Application LOC2015-0102
- NHCA Response to Final Outline Plan for Application LOC2015-0102
This third response included the above earlier responses and the following two files as appendices:
- HHGC-ASP_amendments-NHCA_comments-20Jul2016-colourscan.pdf
- CS4S-Provision-of-Vital-Services-for-the-Northern-Hills-and-Surrounding-Communities-Phase-II-Framework-Document-DRAFTFINAL-15Dec2014.pdf
