The Friends of Peaks of Grassi community association group has filed a legal injunction and lawsuit against the owners of four acres of land in the Canmore subdivision.
Mark Gruman of Gruman Law Office, legal counsel for the incorporated neighbourhood group, filed the statement of claim and application to stop any further movement on the application currently submitted to the municipal planning department until legal proceedings have been resolved.
“Despite the unanimous decision of Town Council to honour the intent of the 1998 Settlement Agreement to limit the development in the Quarry Pines area by rejecting the rezoning application seven months ago and all efforts by the members of the community to reach a negotiated settlement, the current owners of the four acre parcel have chosen to pursue yet another rezoning application,” Gruman wrote in a letter to the Outlook. “This application shows a clear disregard for the wishes and interests of those most impacted.”
The lawsuit is directed at those who own the undeveloped parcels of land directly and indirectly through companies owned by Lawrence Hill, Pierre Doyon and Dan Madlung, who are longtime residents of the neighbourhood.
The new application for rezoning of the urban reserve land proposes infill development, including five single family detached units, eight duplex units and 14 townhouse units – of which seven are proposed to be Perpetually Affordable Housing.
The lawsuit wants an injunction into that process along with a declaration from the current owners they hold the land in trust for the community and will sell the land to the plaintiffs for $200,000.
It includes affidavits from three Peaks residents – Christine Scoland, Drew Holloway and Wendy Hibbard – who state when Hill owned Alpine Homes and the area was under development, he promised those lots would not be developed.
“Those to whom he had made promises and those who were led to believe steps would be taken by him to insure his promises were kept feel a justifiable sense of betrayal, resulting in the lawsuit,” Gruman wrote in his letter.
The legal application will be in front of a judge in Calgary court next Wednesday (Oct. 7).
