Another great neighbourhood is coming to Cochrane
Another beautiful community is being planned for Cochrane and you can have a sneak preview this Wednesday, Sept 14.
The working name is Rockland Park and the Burnswest group of developers invite everyone to an open house at The Cochrane Ranche House from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm to present an overview of the neighbourhood. This area is scheduled to go in where the gravel pit is located by Spray Lake Sawmills downtown and the Family Sports Centre. You may have already heard of this area as it’s been in the works since 2008. The developers were waiting for the gravel pit to be completely mined before anything could take place on the site.
During the open house on Sept 14., the owners of the site and the development team will guide visitors through the current plans for the area and answer any questions that the general public might have. Questions about the types of housing planned for the area, green spaces and community recreation and the proposed business park for the Burnswest area. Cochrane residents can get an idea of the timeless for the development and see the overall vision of the community.
The three designs for the Burnswest area can also be viewed on their website. Each of the three layouts for the neighbourhood include a business park, situated on the east side of the sawmill adjacent to Griffin Road. There are traffic circles at two entry points into the neighbourhood and a pond for storm water runoff on the south. There are also plans for commercial space – some plans have more, some less.
The variances between the three plan are the types of multifamily projects that the developer has in mind. There is also some question as to where the open space will be with a variety of options for where the roads will be. The residential area so far is planned to the south of the sawmill. There will be once entrance into the neighbourhood on the west side of the site.
The Burnswest group is also open for comments from Cochrane residents on the website. They are also polling for names for the new community as Rockland was simply a working name for the side named for Rockland Holdings, the company which owns the site.
Some History about the Land
The land is owned by Jim Burns, formerly of Burnco, via his firm Rockland Holdings Ltd. His family-owned company is Burnswest. For 30-plus years, Burnco ran the gravel pit but is turning the area over from gravel operations to an integrated neighbourhood development with new homes and commercial amenities that will enhance the town as a whole.
Rockland Holdings has taken great pains to ensure that the future community lies in harmony with the Town of Cochrane’s vision. Following the Cochrane Municipal Development Plan, the Neighbourhood Plan has been developed with provision for new single and multi-family homes.
When the plan has been presented at Wednesday’s open house and eventually finalized and put through the approval process, Rockland is hoping that construction can start towards the end of 2017 and Phase 1 can be move-in ready by 2018.
Build out should take about 10 years.