The timeline for the Intermunicipal Development Plan between the City of Red Deer and Red Deer County is being reconsidered, but the proposed annexation of land ñ mostly to the east and west of the city ñ will remain the same following amendments approved by council last month.ìNo one's thinking of changing the map itself,î said county manager Curtis Herzberg of the 234 quarter sections still to be annexed by the city. The original document stated all land would be annexed by 2017.ìThey've done a major annexation since (2007), and as a result everyone around the table including city representatives are saying, ëDoes 2017 make sense?' Or, instead of having a timeline do we make it a living document and realize at any given time the city needs an appropriate amount of time to grow into? It then becomes a phased-in fashion as opposed to a little bit now and then take everything by 2017.îIn November 2007, the city annexed land for industrial development. In September 2009, the city annexed 247 acres south of the Red Deer River and east of the Queen Elizabeth II highway; 3,200 acres along the north side of Red Deer; and 3,900 acres along the east side of the city. The annexation has increased the city's land area by 50 per cent or about 55 quarter sections.ìI don't think they'll need (the rest) by 2017,î Herzberg said. ìAnd we're saying, ëWell, if they don't need it all right now maybe we should leave it as agriculture.' Because if you take too much agriculture land for use as an urban environment it doesn't always fit well. So that's always a struggle to have a plan for their growth but not have so much land that they won't use it for generations.îBoth city and county administrations will look at interim uses within the city growth area prior to annexation and temporary uses will be brought to council for consideration, Herzberg said.ìIt's how you transition land from our use to yours in a fashion that everyone can see and understand. You've got the landowners' involvement in this as well saying ëWell, am I in the city? In the county? Are you moving me from agriculture to a different use? If I'm in the city does it change how I use my land, the taxes that I pay, the services that I get?'îAnnexed land south of Red Deer excludes Gasoline Alley and Liberty Crossing ñ both bordering the city growth area as well as farmland and open space.These areas were defined in the IDP in 2007 as future growth areas for the county and will remain as such.Liberty Crossing, approximately 90 acres of land owned by a development company from B.C., has the potential for 8,000 people under a high-density residential designation. Residential development hasn't begun but approvals have been granted and the developer has completed drainage work and plans.ìWe're not waiting for them to have appropriate documents in place,î explained Herzberg, ìIt's more a matter of when it makes sense for them to open into the market and start to develop.î
