Town council will be seeking further input from the planning department and Apex, the Heartland developer, before making a decision on area structure plan and land-use amendments for stage two of the development in west Cochrane adjacent to Hwy. 1A.

A motion by Marni Fedyko to accept the bylaw as it stood was withdrawn and instead Patrick Wilson's motions to defer both the revised area structure plan and land-use bylaws won the full support of all five of the councillors present last night.

Concerns centred upon the increased units per acre in the development by reducing the amount of land originally proposed for commercial use as well as the potential for added traffic and parking problems identified by both residents and the Cochrane Planning Commission. The change would amount to an increase in the population by 100 people and increase the UPA to 8.6 from 8.16.

Changes to a series of commercial and public service parcels are at the heart of the adjustments.  An attempt to attract a grocery store to an eight-acre site failed and the town opted to take a larger lot for its new law enforcement centre. The town deserted the idea of acquiring a two-acre site for the police station and instead opted to go further west in Heartland and purchase a 4.7-acre parcel that was originally slated for multi-family units.

Councillors were acutely aware any decision they reached could impact the selected site of the police station. Still, Councillor Wilson persisted in seeking changes to better reflect the original intention of the development.

"I have no interest in delaying this; that's not my intent. It is simply the UPA that is of concern so any tweaks we can make to get that down closer to its original level would satisfy me, even if it isn't commercial."

Councillor Morgan Nagel was leery of reducing the amount of commercial land, believing there will be demand in the future with further growth. He joined Wilson's pushed for deferment to attempt to reduce the UPA and possibly add back some commercial land.

Chief administrative officer Dave Devana supported the idea of deferring the decision so town administration could consult further with the planning department and the developer on possible ways to adjust the density. He discouraged council from making decisions on the fly or defeating the bylaw outright. 

The matter is tentatively scheduled to appear on council's May 13 agenda.