The City of Calgary is looking for public input into the development of a large parcel of land on 16 Avenue N.E. that was once home to the Midfield Mobile Home Park.
The land adjacent to Moncton Road was the former RCMP site that was owned by Canada Lands Company, which the city purchased several years ago. That site will be combined with the former Midfield Mobile Home park site in the redevelopment concept plan.
The city will be engaging the Winston Heights and Renfrew community associations and the public in general.
“We are in the early stages and we are following the Northhill Planning Exercise because that will be the guiding planning policy document for this site and we will also conduct an in-depth community engagement process for feedback and input into the conceptual design,” said Carol-Ann Beswick, senior project manager with the City of Calgary, on Monday.
Beswick said the development of a site like this can take around four to six years to go through the planning approvals process before there might be building on this site.
Beswick said it is envisioned as a mixed-use site. She explained there will be plenty of opportunity for public input but “we will line up with all the planning policies and sustainability principles and affordable housing accessibility and connect this site to the existing community and enhance economic and residential opportunities for the area.”
She said there are some challenges with developing the site.
Last year, the city conducted a preliminary environmental investigation. The past six months were spent doing a more in-depth environmental assessment and geotechnical assessment at the site. That will determine if there is any contamination and what might be needed in terms of remediation.
There are also concerns over slope stability because the land is overlooking the Winston Golf Course.
“Ultimately, we do want to deliver on city policies so we want to line up with sustainability principles, diversified economic and residential opportunities for this site,” Beswick said.
“Something like this takes time.”
The city will spend the next six months doing community engagement.
“It can be a couple of years before you can get your approvals and then we will start servicing the site and creating the parcels and selling those to developers and they can build residential and mixed-use opportunities that align with the ultimate vision that we create with the community and planning policies,” Beswick said.
Carolyn Slipp, the president of the Winston Heights-Mountview Community Association, said the community isn’t ready to comment on the plans for the site because “there hasn’t been any community discussion surrounding the site yet.”
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