At Monday's (December 18) City Council meeting, Councillors adopted a bylaw showing compliance with the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP).

Gail Gibeau, Senior Planner with the City of Airdrie, explained that in 2008, the Province of Alberta changed its approach to land use planning by releasing the Land Use Framework (LUF).

"The province has a Land Use Framework which guides our long term sustainability development for the entire province, and under that Land Use Framework, there's eight strategies that were identified that would achieve that outcome and the creation of regional plans within the province was one of those strategies."

The South Saskatchewan region is one of seven land use planning regions established under the LUF. The region is bounded by the Canada-U.S border, the Alberta-British Columbia border, the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, and the Red Deer region to the north. Airdrie sits well within the region. Each of the seven regions was required to adopt a regional plan to further economic, environmental and social goals during development.

The SSRP is the second of the seven regional plans approved by the province, with the first being the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP). The LARP was prioritized because of the oil sands. Gibeau explained that the SSRP was prioritized for a different reason.

"South Saskatchewan region has the largest population for the province. More than half the total population for the province of Alberta actually lives within the South Saskatchewan region. When you combine that with the fact that we have the least amount of water for all the regions in the province of Alberta, you can understand how critical water is as an issue."

Most of Alberta's roads and railways are also concentrated within the region.

The SSRP was adopted in September 2014, setting the strategic direction for the region for the next ten years and outlining eight outcome areas. Water management is one of those priorities, along with diversifying the regional economy, managing air quality, sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem functions, using land efficiently, enhancing the quality of life through increased recreation space, collaborating with Aboriginal Peoples, and anticipating and accommodating community needs.

Now, municipalities within the region are required to demonstrate compliance through their regulatory instruments with the plan by August 31, 2018. In Airdrie, that regulatory instrument is the City Plan. Gibeau explained the City Plan is the guiding document that determines future land use in the city, basically an internal blue print for growth. Because of overlaps in the time frame of the development of both the SSRP and the City Plan, the City Plan already mirrors the Regional Plan.

"The City Plan was done in around the time that the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan was done, and while the Province was undertaking the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan there was extensive consultation done, so much of the policies that were contained in the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan were known to us while that document was being prepared."

Gibeau explained the bylaw adopted on Monday simply strengthens some of the language in the City Plan to demonstrate alignment with the SSRP. Because the Regional Plan had not been formally adopted when the City Plan was drafted, stronger language was not written into the document to demonstrate compliance.

Gibeau also explained that since the City Plan has been in use since 2014, there should not be any impact on day to day life because of the new bylaw. She said nothing will change for the average land owner.

 

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