Colinton residents gathered for a public open house in Colinton Community Hall last Tuesday to discuss the area structure plan (ASP) under development for the hamlet.
“An area structure plan sets out the major land uses for your area,” said land use planner and Athabasca County intern Neil Chadda. “We’re looking at commercial; we’re looking at residential; we’re looking at industrial and open spaces.
“The reason why we’re creating an area structure plan is because we want to set out the future long-term goals of the community for the next 10 years.”
Chadda acknowledged the county has at times been perceived as not caring about its residents. He said the public open house process is meant to end that fallacy — to move on from the past and focus on the present.
“When we think about the word ‘community,’ what comes to mind right now is what we’re seeing here, is a group of people gathering here from this area,” said Chadda. “You want to know what type of future you want to have for your community, and that’s what we’re here for.”
Chadda, the lead developer for the ASP, sent surveys out in the mail to Colinton residents to ascertain how they want to see their community grow. A survey was also issued online.
“I have to say, the survey response was absolutely spectacular. We had 89 responses out of a possible 230, so thank you everyone for filling out the surveys,” the planner said. “We are listening to what you are all saying.”
Of those surveyed, 95 per cent said yes to wanting a “Welcome to Colinton” sign. Ninety-six per cent voted in favour of a crosswalk in town.
Chadda said some of the feedback asked for more open spaces, and 95 per cent of respondents wanted a more walkable community.
“With a walkable community, what does that mean practically?” asked Colinton resident Dave Powell.
Chadda said, “Being able to walk to the corner store, being able to walk to your neighbour’s house, to go on a hike, to take your family … there are such amazing vistas in Colinton. It’s a shame people aren’t taking advantage of them.”
Colinton resident Geoff Loken called the proposed truck bypass that could run around Colinton “an awfully big elephant in the room to not even acknowledge.”
Loken said he had hoped the ASP survey would ask residents what their feelings on the possible truck bypass might be.
Chadda clarified, “The bypass is a provincial undertaking. The county is not doing the bypass.”
Loken rebutted, “Yeah, but you can’t plan something like that (if) you’ve got a multi-million dollar project hanging over the town. You can’t pretend it’s not there.”
The Advocate had previously, erroneously reported a bypass open house would be held in Colinton; in fact, there are no truck bypass open houses scheduled at the moment.
Chadda said, “One of the benefits of an area structure plan is, down the road, if we need to make changes, we can make those changes to the plan.”
Several county councillors attended the open house.
“It was good,” said councillor Denis Willcott, who represents the Colinton area. He said there is always a need to improve in such areas as “garbage dumps, signs, and lighting.”
Some recognized confusion in the community’s ability to envision the future and identify how an area structure plan is pertinent.
“They don’t envision, ‘What can the community be?’; they’re looking at, ‘How does it affect us now?’” said county Reeve David Yurdiga.
The reeve hopes for the next open house there will be even more discussion on what walkability means. To him, it means it is “safe to walk places, children can walk across the street; it’s all about a friendly community.”
A steering committee of people from the Colinton area has been struck to discuss the finer points of the ASP.
There have been two steering committee meetings, and another one is planned. The county will host one or two more open houses, too. The next public open house will be held at the Colinton Community Hall on Aug. 19 at 7 p.m.
After the ASP has been drafted, it will go through council, but that timeline has yet to be determined.
