The Town of Cochrane is appealing the Glenbow Ranch Area Structure Plan (GRASP) after its request to negotiate three major concerns was sidestepped by Rocky View County before it was passed in late July. 

The bylaws that created GRASP are essentially put on hold until the appeal process is complete, explains Drew Hyndman, Cochrane's senior manager of planning services. It begins with mediation that won't start until after the municipal election. Should discussions fail on any portion of mediation, the items disputed will be heard by the Municipal Government Board (MGB).

Hyndman says the town objects to GRASP proceeding in its current form because of concerns over traffic, soft services and water licensing.

These same concerns were expressed by the town repeatedly, even during an intermunicipal meeting the day before RVC council gave it first reading.

The county maintains it preferred to pass the bylaw and enter into discussions afterwards, forcing both Cochrane and Calgary, who has also appealed the plan, to formally detail their concerns.

Currently there is no water licence registered for GRASP, although the town understands one has been secured and a transfer application is forthcoming. The Bow River is a closed basin and no new water licences are being issued. That means the only way to obtain one is to secure an existing license. and that will be the case when Cochrane has to obtain more water rights.

"It's just downstream from us. so will that will impact our ability to obtain a licence in the future to support our growth and will it also effect the aquatic health of Bow River?" questions Hyndman.

"It puts a price on water. To obtain a water licence will be very, very expensive for our community and that might have an impact on Cochrane and its residents and also our ability to find a water licence."

Hyndman says the town would prefer to work on a regional basis to address water issues, rather than have independent systems between here and Calgary.

With 13,400 residents expected to be added to the Hwy. 1A corridor at full build out of GRASP, the town believes a number of those people may frequence Cochrane, causing additional pressures on Hwy. 1A and town services.

"The biggest challenge with Cochrane right now is from a transportation perspective," he says. "If we were to add a number of people to that transportation network from another community, we're quite concerned."

RVC Reeve Greg Boehlke questions the validity of that claim and says Cochrane is the biggest cause of traffic congestion on that stretch of highway.

"I don't believe it's Rocky View traffic that is influencing Cochrane. We've stayed pretty steady at a 3 to 3.5 per cent growth over the last number of years. Cochrane has had in excess of 45 per cent growth over the last five years and most of those would be commuters because there aren't too many jobs in Cochrane. I'm very confident that it's not Rocky View that's causing the traffic jams, it's traffic coming from Cochrane heading to Calgary and then from Calgary heading back from their jobs."

While the town wants to ensure there isn't a significant impact on soft services they provide to the county, such as recreation and recycling, Boehlke says they have never expected a free ride and compensate neighbouring municipalities financially.

"We have always paid our share. If we're not paying enough, we'll certainly up it. Our share is based on useage and fact. We like to be fair and we want to be fair with all our neighbours. We expect absolutely nothing for nothing."

The appeal was filed in August, although a public notice only appeared on Sept. 5, and since then RVC has been in touch with the town to discuss mediation.

"We're optimistic we can work with Rocky View and hope to come to a resolution on our concerns," says Hyndman.

 Reeve Boehlke says he was not surprised by the appeal but disappointed and stands behind GRASP.

 "They've got their opinion and it will come down to mediation. If it goes all the way to the MGB, I'm fairly confident we have a good plan there."

This process is similar to the 2016 appeal of the RVC’s Conrich Area Structure Plan. In that case, the city of Chestermere lost their appeal outright, and RVC successfully reached an agreement with Calgary over transportation concerns.

Full build out of the ASP is expected to take 20 to 25 years.