A few weeks ago, it was advertised that Torode Realty Advisors Inc., would be holding an open house on January 8, 2014, to discuss a potential condo development at the corner of Lakeside Greens Drive and Merganser. Now, as most read that, eyebrows came together and asked the question, “isn’t that the parking lot of the golf course?” Yes and no.
Yes, it is in the area of the golf course parking lot, however, it is not owned by the Lakeside Greens golf course and to clear up an inaccurate statement made at the open house, the land is not owned by Bill Turnbull either. “This piece of land, which comes in at just over an acre, is privately owned right now, by some of the original developers of the golf course. The original golf course was developed by a group of business men out of Calgary. This land was a piece that was left out of the golf course development and out of the entitlement of the golf course, including the parking lot. This piece is a residual piece – call it an orphan”, explained Turnbull.
Mr. Turnbull is however, connected to the 11.44 acres across from Camp Chestermere where in the summer of 2014, an application for rezoning was put to City Council to get that land rezoned from SPR (Special Recreation) to something that would facilitate the seventy five semi-detached villa style adult living complex that was being proposed to council. That application was turned down by council, stating “Council thought that rezoning the land would not be in the best interest of the community as it would defeat the purpose of the special recreation district designation. There are other lands that housing could be placed on but we don’t have another opportunity like this one outlined anywhere in Chestermere”.
It was after council turned down Turnbuls application that he was made aware of the piece of land now being looked at, and was approached by the owners of the site where it was suggested that he take a look at it for the possibility of a 50+ condo development.
The open house, which was to be exactly that, ended up turning into a sit down information session where the representative from Torode, Sky Mitchell, did her best to get the attendees on board. Explaining that the building would have 49 units, a flat roof to facilitate a green space with benches – a roof top patio type concept – and that the main floor would be host to retail opportunities. However, at the end of the day and after many questions were met with answers such as ‘we don’t know yet” or “that’s to be decided”, 99% of the room was still opposed to this development.
Turnbul said that he was fully expecting some push back from the community as it is a multi-storey building and it’s expected to not have everyone jump on board all at once. Turnbul was not at the meeting, but it has been confirmed that owners of the golf course were in attendance and they fully support the development, according to Mr. Turnbul.
It was not so much the concept of the development that people were against as many agree that the City of Chestermere needs a 50+ or senior living facility. Housing options like this are a much needed amenity in Chestermere in order to give those residents that have lived here for a long time, raised their families here and now are finding themselves empty nesters and needing to downsize their living space. Many of them are forced to leave Chestermere, the place they have called home for years – many years, and go to Calgary or other municipalities. It was the location that most attendees of the meeting were having issue with.
Turnbul went on to say, “Mr. Torode and I will be back for another presentation. We will make it when things settle down a little bit and we’ll refine the drawings to bring them up a little bit more to speed and if we think we can get the support we need, we’ll take a land use application to the town. If we think, again, going to be absolutely stone walled, we won’t do it.”
