Three parcels of land at the centre of a legal dispute over rezoning approval were successfully subdivided this week.
The subdivision authority for the Town of Canmore approved the application on Tuesday (March 22). Once officially registered, subdivision will create 18 new lots in the Peaks of Grassi area.
Development planner Patrick Sorfleet presented the application and details regarding the various considerations that are made at the subdivision stage of the development process, including accessibility, stormwater drainage, flooding and erosion concerns, as well as changes to topography.
The subdivision looked at three parcels on Lawrence Grassi Ridge and Sorfleet said there are mixed slopes between them, although one parcel in particular has steeper topography.
“A grading plan has been submitted and is consistent with the Town’s engineering and construction standards,” he said.
The contour of the site has an outcrop of rock that has been a cause for concern for residents in the neighbourhood who oppose the development.
Sorfleet said applicants have indicated grading of the site would not require the use of dynamite, but instead mechanical means to level it.
He also said because the majority of the steep lot included in the subdivision would be turned over to the municipality as municipal reserve, most of the topography in the area is preserved.
“Over 51 per cent of the subject lands are contributed to municipal reserve and the intent for those lands is for passive recreation and to provide a buffer,” he said.
As for flooding and erosion potential for the property, Sorfleet said a level two hazard and risk assessment was completed and a third party review conducted.
“The important thing learned is that the area exposed to the hazard can be mitigated through building and design of a diversion wall,” he said. “That would help protect municipal infrastructure and several existing homes in that area that fall in the hazard zone.”
While the subdivision authority approved the application, rezoning of the land by council earlier this year is the subject of a legal challenge. Calgary lawyer Mark Gruman has applied for a judicial review of the council decision, but that won’t be heard in court until October.
In the meantime, Gruman will argue an injunction or stay of the development proceeding on June 21. There were, however, concerns that the lots, now subdivided, will be cleared of trees.
General manager of municipal infrastructure Michael Fark said in discussions with the property owners and the applicant of the judicial review, there is a clause in the subdivision to allow time for the application for an injunction to be heard.
