Editor:
Like many Canmorites, I frequently recreate in Quarry Lake Park: both the picnic/swimming area and especially the off-leash dog park. I am therefore very familiar with its surroundings, including the Peaks of Grassi neighbourhood.
Although I don’t live in the Peaks, I am following the new re-zoning application with interest and have a number of concerns:
In the 1990s, a great deal of effort was made by council and concerned residents to preserve Quarry Lake for all of Canmore. Extreme care was taken to ensure no encroachment on Quarry Lake Park resulted from the then Peaks development. Every effort was made for minimum visibility of Peaks roof lines from the park. Councillors and others gathered at the Park and balloons were hung from trees to check the visibility impact of the proposed Peaks development.
The area now proposed for rezoning in the Peaks is very close to Quarry Lake Park. The new area appears closer to the lake than is the original Peaks development. In addition, a Google-maps aerial view of the area (posted on the Three Sisters for Wildlife website) indicates that the proposed new housing will, in fact, be 62 metres closer to the lake than is the current Quarry Lake parking lot itself. Specifically, the distance from the QL parking lot to the lake is 212 metres; the distance from the area proposed for rezoning to the lake is only 150 metres.
The west parcel of the urban reserve subject to this rezoning abuts the Quarry Lake Local Habitat Patch (2012 BECAG).
These reasons are more than sufficient for me to oppose this re-zoning.
I am not opposed to development: TSMV, Spring Creek, and Silvertip should develop mixed affordable housing – including staff/employee housing – in their future projects, after due diligence to wildlife corridors has been undertaken and the rigorous application review is done by the Town.
A recent letter to the editor indicated that TSMV had plans to include a trailer park and employee housing in the high-density area of TSMV. I applaud these plans and fervently hope Town administration ensures they are realized.
Over the years, Quarry Lake has been the setting for several movies and thousands of events. Many wedding pictures, family reunions, athletic competitions, and daily family activities take place at the Quarry.
If the Town wants to be in the forefront of “eco-tourism,” environmental sensitivity, and ensuring quality of life for all Canmorites, approving the development of 27 additional homes in the Peaks of Grassi does not seem like a good decision to me: it is too close to Quarry Lake Park.
All of us who have concerns about the increased development in this built-out neighbourhood should make our views known to council and attend the public hearing on Nov. 24.
Carla Cumming,
Canmore
