Residents of the Rolling Range Estates have been left with some hard feelings to mend with final approval being given to the Rolling Trails Area Redevelopment Plan by town council last night.

Town council voted 4-2 to give the bylaw final reading after receiving the blessings of the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board. 

Councillor Susan Flowers was among those recognizing the community is split on the plan.

"It's unfortunate that some people are going to be very sad about this," she said in making the motion to give the bylaw third reading. "Not everyone's onboard, but I feel bad for the ones that have been waiting 20-years to make this happen, so I think it's time."

wetlandsOne of the many wetlands in the Rolling Range Estates.

Flowers did express the need to protect some of the wetlands there.

"Is there anything to protect those so they don't get ruined like happened in The Willows?" she questioned.

She was told the town planning would be investigating the wetlands when the developer moves forward with a neighbourhood plan.

Her view is in contrast to the views presented by Tara McFadden.

"We don't need another neighbourhood of residentially focused development at this point," said McFadden. "We've got by my count eight to 10 currently under development, and for the last number of years I've been advocating a sequential development approval process whereby we would complete these developments before we move forward with adopting any new developments."

Councillor Marni Fedeyko expressed concern over the fragmentation of the community illustrated in the public hearing, and the need for the town to focus on other priorities related to rapid growth.

"It still remains fragmented in my mind. I think we still have lots of areas that we can still develop and also we have a lot of issues that we need to address."

She included health care and schools on that list.

Recognizing there are mixed emotions, Alex Reed believes it's the right decision to move forward. 

"There have been members of the community who have asked why we haven't done this earlier and it was because there wasn't the opportunity to be able to do so. This development has allowed for that.

"I think this is responsible land management on behalf of the town and I'm kind of surprised that my colleagues would see otherwise. They're welcome to their opinion, but I'm in support of it."

Patrick Wilson says believes the infill approach used in the redevelopment plan allows autonomy for residents of the community. He expects the area to be highly financially prudent in the long term for the town.

"This may be the first ASP I've actually supported in on my time on council, and I'm happy to do so tonight."

Mayor Genung said his decision to vote in favour of the redevelopment bylaw came down to responsible planning.

"I think we need to know what these lands are going to be in the future. It sets us up financially for infrastructure investments that we need to make so we're not caught off-guard down the road, and we know where to put the road."

Councillor Morgan Nagel was unavailable for the public meeting and could not participate in the vote or discussions.

In January a three-hour public hearing on the redevelopment proposal illustrated the division it has created in the community. What was once a unified community now sees neighbours pitted against each other, some of whom are no longer on speaking terms.

The estates were annexed by the town in 2004 from Rocky View County. Since that time, there's been no change in the status of 41 acreages ranging in size from 1.8 to 19.9 acres. It includes two public service town-owned parcels, one environmental reserve parcel and one municipal reserve parcel. 

READ MORE: Rolling Range, Tower Trail residents remain divided on proposed ARP

Schickedanz West and Canopy Land unrolled a 50-year framework in presenting the redevelopment proposal. It acknowledged the deep division over the proposal, thus leading to the incorporation of a long-term shadow plan.

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