The potential for more development in the MD of Bighorn’s hottest market just got greater.
The possibility for health and wellness centre development in Dead Man’s Flats has significantly increased following an amendment to the Land Use Bylaw.
Bighorn council approved final reading on Nov. 5 at the regular meeting to a bylaw amendment that adds health and wellness centres as a discretionary use in the Dead Man’s Flats Tourism and Highway Commercial District in the Land Use Bylaw.
The amendment would now allow spa-like facility development in Dead Man’s, but it’s not to say that’s the only development being eyed in the booming hamlet.
Bighorn Reeve Dene Cooper said this is “not permitting any particular development, this is just saying spas in general will be considered.
“With so little land in the Bow Valley left for development that is MD controlled and Dead Man’s Flats is about half of the available land,” Cooper said. “The fact the Alberta economy is on an upswing is going to drive these proposals … when you see so little land left, the land that remains is going to be under intense pressure to be developed.”
There are 121 residents in Dead Man’s currently and that number will see a boost over the next few years as River’s Bend Development’s 77 residential lots and a 15-light industrial and commercial lot project continues.
The bylaw amendment received support during a Sept. 22 public hearing at Bighorn council chambers including backing from Dead Man’s residents, written support by Frank Kernick, owner of Spring Creek Mountain Village in Canmore and one of the proponents of River’s Bends, and Gordon McGuinty, a developer who pitched his spa facility proposal at the hearing. There were no objections brought forth at the hearing by the public.
