What if Cochrane decided to halt residential growth?

Fed up with the issue of traffic congestion and other problems of a growing municipality, a Cochrane councillor has suggested freezing residential growth in the town north west of Calgary. Councillor Morgan Nagel proposed this extreme measure earlier in August; however, Mayor Ivan Brooker was quick to take issue with it.

The Cochrane Times reports that the Brooker called the idea “all bad”.

Without revenue from new homes there would be no new taxes, therefore existing taxes would rise. Without that new revenue stream, the Town would have to borrow money to repair current infrastructure. There would be no further interest from developers and any new businesses considering setting up shop in Cochrane would be scared away. The Mayor said halting development would be way too expensive.

The Town of Cochrane builds its budgets based on growth patterns and predictions.  Plus, new businesses that consider coming to Cochrane often base their decisions on anticipated growth, not necessarily on the market base that is already here.   Because Cochrane has been growing at a fairly rapid pace, some firms have either come early in advance of anticipated growth or are in mid-build.  Freezing residential growth will send a message to these enterprises that they have perhaps made an incorrect decision.

There are also too many projects in the works at the present time, such as land negotiations for a future Bow River bridge.  A deal with six development groups is close to being done and a sudden residential development freeze would take away the impetus to get a deal finalized.

There are many new neighbourhoods currently under construction in Cochrane with more still in the development phase.  Neighbourhoods like Sunset Ridge and Fireside are growing as Calgarians make the move to the town to find affordable homes, in pursuit of a small-town lifestyle.

In arguing Nagels’ proposal, the Mayor also stated that he is confident that the province is on board with the traffic congestion problems at the intersection of Highway 22 and 1A which is a highly contentious issue in town.  Alberta Transportation has completed a design for the intersection at a cost of $4 million so there is a light at the end of the tunnel as the government now understands that it’s a high priority in Cochrane and is construction ready.

Brooker told council that continued efforts to improve Cochrane’s infrastructure is key to keeping the ball rolling and that residential development is necessary to forward momentum.

Development pays for new parks, improved roads and pathways and bridges.

An example of the consequences of freezing development is Okotoks south of Calgary. The town put a cap of 35,000 on its population in 2012.  The town is trying to build a pipeline from Calgary now because they have no water, sewer service is limited and there are a variety of other issues. This is because there was not growth to offset the costs said Brooker and he doesn’t want to make the same mistake with Cochrane.