Close, but no cigar

We are pleased to see the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) amending its Calgary Metropolitan Plan (CMP) to accommodate the rural municipalities that previously left the Partnership because of a number of concerns.

The amendments of staging in densities of between eight and 10 units per acre and changes to the “super-majority” are motions of good faith but do not go far enough to address the serious issues the rural municipalities have had with the CMP from the start.

Rocky View County officials have said again and again that the high-density numbers are not realistic in a diverse county where people expect to have more space.

It does not matter how long the County would have to phase these densities in, no one moves to the county to be stacked on top of each other.

The point of moving to the country is to have space and land, not be packed into tight communities or “growth nodes.”

This is a case where one solution does not fit all.

On another note, we must agree with Rocky View County Reeve Rolly Ashdown who says certain services such as water should not be divvied out based on predetermined conditions.

It all comes down to being a good neighbour. In a community, if you have something that you can give a neighbour and you know they need it, you give it to them.

That decision shouldn’t be based on the fact that they have done something for you in the past or will do something for you in the future.

We understand the benefits of preplanning and that we need our land to be sustainable for years to come but that should be the responsibility of the municipality in which the land is located.

We also understand the importance of municipalities working together, however, it is nearly impossible to find wide-sweeping regulations or rules that will work in all of the diverse communities.

What may work for a large metropolis like Calgary, very well may not be plausible in Rocky View County.