BOWDEN — The town is in the process of annexing an approximate 93-acre chunk of land on its northern boundary from Red Deer County.
The land in question is known as the former home of Bow Seed Nursery, formerly called Alberta Nurseries & Seeds, which began operations in 1928 and closed in 2012. In 2018, It's A Dog's World Pet Resort opened and then closed a few years later. The annexation was spurred by a request from the landowner.
During its Aug. 14 meeting, Bowden council passed a motion to work with the landowner to “prepare a notice of intent to annex the described lands,” chief administrative officer Rudy Friesen said in an email to the Albertan.
“This is not as simple as just an approval, but Bowden council is supportive,” he added.
Friesen was asked how long it might take for the annexation to be officially completed.
“This is a provincially legislated process. As of today (Aug. 22), I’m uncertain of the timeline,” he wrote.
During an interview with the Albertan, Town of Bowden Mayor Robb Stuart was asked what the town plans for the land when it becomes part of the town. Would it be zoned residential or commercial?
“I'm not sure,” he said. “We would service it and see what the developer would want to do with it.”
Stuart agreed that just like Alberta and Canada as a whole, Bowden has a need for more affordable housing.
He said people are discovering that “to be honest, without blowing our own horn, our taxes and our utility rates are pretty well the lowest in central Alberta.”
However, Stuart said the Town of Bowden can’t tell private landowners what to do with their land.
"The thing is, you can provide the land, but you really can't stipulate what has to go there,” he said.
Stuart gave the example of a property owner who owns land elsewhere in the community but it’s still not serviced.
He also said the town doesn’t want to go ahead and service a chunk of land and then see virtually nothing happen with it.
He cited the example of privately-owned land the town serviced across Highway 2 10 to 15 years ago.
“We serviced it and it's still sitting there and nobody's really bought anything, right? So we don't want the same thing to happen there,” he said.
