On Nov. 1, a community design workshop was held at the Canmore Golf & Country Club. Canmore council directed administration to develop scenarios for market housing and affordable housing on the old daycare lands. Throughout the morning session participants worked through a number of exercises and presented their concept designs to the entire group. Community participants identified maintaining green space as a key objective. McElhanney Consulting along with MVH Planning & Design were hired to help the community and the Town prepare potential development scenarios.
In the afternoon administration and the consultant team worked to refine the concepts which were then presented back to the community in the evening at the Canmore Civic Centre for more feedback and to make sure they were interpreted correctly.
“We started the session at 10 a.m. and we addressed three questions, the first was goals, a series of nine goals outlined by the community from previous processes and they went through critiquing and amending,” Michael von Hausen president of MVH Planning & Design said.
The nine goals addressed by community members included: park improvements and conservation (sensitive areas) come first in any development program. The local neighbourhood will have input to any improvements to the park recreation program. Any site enhancement will create improvement to the neighbourhood. Any housing development considered on the site will be located in such a way to enhance the street and not adversely impact adjoining houses. There will be a housing mix in the development that will include Perpetually Affordable Housing (PAH) and other types of housing. The mix of housing (beyond PAH housing) could include single family housing with suites or coach houses on the rear lane, townhomes, duplexes, and triplexes. The housing should be attainable to local Canmore residents. Part of the revenue from any housing development will be used to pay for park improvements. The project should demonstrate innovative construction methods and green technologies that are affordable and efficient.
“The second question asked what was important to the community to keep on the site. For instance the forest, the connection to the woodlands, the community across the street and the character of the site,” von Hausen said. “The third question, on the balance of the property assuming certain things were kept and conserved on the property, what other uses could be considered on the site?”
Input from participants ranged from high development to low development concentration, with greater open space championed by the majority.
Community members who were unable to attend the session may visit: www.surveymonkey.com/s/canmore-concepts where an online survey has been created so feedback on the Nov. 1 design concepts may still be accepted. The survey can be accessed at the above link and will remain open until Nov. 16.
Over the month of November the consultant team will be taking the output from the Nov. 1 workshop along with preceived feedback to begin a series of refined design concepts. The consultant team will then share the concepts with the community for more feedback and comment before they are finalized and presented to council, planned for December or early January.
Visit, canmore.ca/Service-Areas/Planning-Development/Redevelopment-of-the-Old-Daycare-Lands.html for more details on the next public information session.
