The town has finally opened the door wide for immediate and massive residential and commercial development in the city's southern Woodlands area.
Laebon Homes, a major Central Alberta developer, has set its sights to begin construction of up to 500 new homes in 2015 on 100 acres of land in a 12-phase development called The Woodlands. The property, now consisting of rolling pasture with a natural ravine and Buffalo Creek running southeast-northwest in its southern portion, is bordered by a CPR rail line to the west, existing residential development to the north, Highway 54 to the south and Woodlands Road to the east.
Laebon's residential development plan for the new subdivision calls for a mix of entry-level styles, estate level homes, as well as row housing.
A future commercial area of just under four acres is earmarked in the southeast corner but if market demand is not present it could be converted for multi-family residential use.
“Innisfail has always been a big part of the Laebon community and we certainly intend to be there for a while yet,” said Laebon partner Steve Bontje, whose company, now in the finishing stages with the Madison Park development, has been in discussions with the town about developing the Woodlands area since 2007. “We will keep moving ahead with the town. They are just getting started but assuming that everything goes well then yes, we will be in a position to start next year.”
Following a presentation by Matthew Pawlow, planning manager for Parkland Community Planning Services, at town council's regular meeting on Aug. 25, first reading was approved for proposed bylaw amendments to both the Woodlands Area Structure Plan, which covers a total area of 396 acres, and the Land Use Bylaw Woodlands Outline Plan. A public hearing into both proposed bylaw amendments is scheduled for Oct. 14.
Craig Teal, the town's director of planning and operational services, said the initiative is the first significant “push” to move forward on the property since it was annexed by the town in the late 1970s.
“We have been waiting quite a while for urban development to start up in that area,” said Teal, adding it could take Laebon 10 years to have its 100-acre parcel at full build-out. “That area is pretty rural and we are trying to get something that is way more urban, and Laebon will be the first, once these approvals go through, to make the effort to make that happen.”
Teal said while Laebon is anxious to move boldly forward, there is still considerable detailed work to be done on the lands, including opening up vital infrastructure in the area, specifically a lift station, which is typically used for pumping wastewater or sewage from a lower to higher elevation. He said it has been one of the issues that has held up development of the Woodlands area.
“That will be part of the discussions with Laebon in terms of when that gets built and how we manage that part, but that is one of the key items that has to be overcome for real development to happen down there once these approvals are put in place,” said Teal. “It has to be built before the first house can really be built.”
While the Woodlands Area Structure Plan calls for the ultimate build-out of 806 new housing units to accommodate just under 2,000 citizens on the entire 396 acres of land, along with a comprehensive commercial area, Laebon is the only developer to make a serious bid to begin building in the Woodlands area.
“As you can see from our land position there, it serves an important need up and down the Queen Elizabeth II Highway corridor, and we would like to have housing options available in all those Central Alberta communities the best we can,” said Bontje. “We are excited to be there and I think it will continue to be a good market for us.”
Meanwhile, the town is giving adjacent landowners and all interested members of the public an opportunity to look at Laebon's Woodlands plan at an open house on Sept. 18. It will run from 4 to 7:30 p.m. at the Innisfail Library/Learning Centre.
