The Dynamics of Competitive Rapid Growth

 City and County
   Working Together
   for Growth

 The City & County
    Enter New Era of
    Co-operation

 
Background Commentary Report --                                                  
The Dynamics of Competitive Rapid Growth
The City-County Bumpy Road from the Intermunicipal Development Plan to 'Future Directions' to the new Intermunicipal Development Plan

Updated Nov. 16, 2007
 
In 1999, the City of Red Deer and Red Deer County signed an agreement called the Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP) that was designed to guide city and county growth on the fringe of the city well into the future. It also set up a process for dispute resolution.
 
It was supposed to create co-operation, mutually beneficial planning, communication, co-ordination and act as an economic development tool.
 
At the time, the Edgar Industrial Park in the north west sector of Red Deer was expected to meet the city's industrial needs for 10 to 25 years. The city's population was 64,000 and wasn't expected to reach the current population until at least 2011.

According to the IDP, when the City needed to expand into the County, the plan was that Area 1 would be annexed first (which was done), followed by Areas 2 and 3. Long term, the area in brown on the east would be sufficient for the City to expand into the forseeable future, including an area south of Delburne Road east of the landfill for eventual industrial development.
 
The current economic boom however resulted in virtually all the available industrial land within the City limits being sold except for a small amount of land in the Riverside Heavy Industrial area.
 
The IDP identified Areas A and B as lands that would be developed by the County once Area Structure Plans were completed. There was no agreement that the City would expand west of Highway QE2. It was generally assumed that the Highway was a natural boundary and that the land west of the Highway would remain in the County for quite some time. (The blue sections on the map represent Area Structure Plans at the time, the red commercial development, the yellow residential development in the short term and the green sections parks and open spaces).

The following year, the County adopted the Burnt Lake Area Structure Plan for Area A that was designed to guide development two sections deep west of Highway QE2, south of Highway 11A and north of the Red Deer River. A significant amount of light industrial and agribusiness has developed since.
 
When the City could see that their supply of serviceable industrial land was quickly shrinking and that residential growth was occurring much faster than anticipated, a Growth Study was launched to determine the best directions for growth residentially, industrially and commercially. The Study also identified the preferable transportation system to get people from one area to another as the City expanded.
 
One of the conclusions of the 2004 Red Deer Growth Study was that creating an industrial area south of Delburne Road was impractical in the short term as it would be too costly to service. The area north of Highway 11A east of Highway 2 (Area 2 in the IDP and Area A in the Growth Study) was better suited to residential and commercial development rather than industrial, especially directly north of Edgar Industrial Park in the Hazlett Lake area. Even then, the current population wasn't expected to be reached until 2009.
 
The area identified in the Growth Study as the most suitable for short term industrial expansion was west of Highway QE2 and south of Highway 11A (the blue portion in Area E), a section within the County's Burnt Lake Area Structure Plan.
 
The City decided to start the process of annexing that land from the County and had an option to purchase some land in the area that could be quickly serviced for industrial development.
 
The City assumed that the County would go along with their plan. But the County decided to not approve the sale of the land until an updated Intermunicipal Development Plan was negotiated.
 
The Red Deer Growth Study also identified areas of residential expansion on the east of the City (orange on the map within the City boundary, yellow outside the City boundary targeted for future annexation).
 
Long term residential growth is targeted to occur farther east in Areas B and C (light green) as the need arises. The grey section in Area D allows for long term industrial expansion south of Delburne Road. An expressway will eventually be constructed along 20 Ave. connecting with McKenzie Road in the south and west to Highway QE2 and connecting with Highway 11A in the north with a new bridge to be constructed across the river along Northland Drive.
 
Areas 1 and 2 are identified as County growth areas both in the short and long term.
 
In light of the City's plans, both short and long term, the County proposed, in the fall of 2005, a long term (100 year) vision for City expansion and County development by offering co-operation in the annexation of land in all directions of the City except for the south and southwest (Areas 1 and 2) if the City agreed to not attempt to annex those two areas during the vision period.
 
The City effectively turned down the option as it claimed that they didn't want future Councils' hands tied in the south and southwest and it needed time to study the implications of annexing such a large area. Furthermore, the city was working on its own updated growth strategy.
 
As a result, the County proceeded with its Growth Strategy (already in progress and released in January 2006) that basically confirmed the concept implied in the 1999 IDP that the City would not expand west beyond Highway QE2. The strategy confirmed that the County is prepared to offer to developers serviceable industrial land to meet the current shortage as well as aggressively market residential and commercial opportunities.
 
The County also developed a new Land Use Bylaw and a large area conceptual structure plan for the south and southwest of Red Deer called the Springbrook Gasoline Alley Area Structure Plan. Since parts of these plans fell within the Intermunicipal Development Plan, they required city approval. The City decided to initiate a dispute, effectively stalling the adoption of either of these plans. The City also decided to dispute all rezoning applications for industrial development south of the city within the IDP.
 
In June, 2006, the County released its Gasoline Alley West Urban Design Plan after considerable consultation with developers, business owners and other stakeholders. The plan included a residential component that could eventually see a population of 5,000 to 8,000 people. The residential component particularly raised concern with the City administration as it meant a new large town on its southern border that in some respects would be conceived as part of the city and would possibly draw resources from the city in an area that would not be controlled by the city.
 
On the annexation front, when the Intermunicipal Affairs Committee couldn't reach agreement, the dispute went to mediation. When mediation apparently failed, the City pulled out of negotiations and decided to appeal their case directly to the Municipal Government Board.
 
Meanwhile, in September 2006, the City released a discussion report called 'Future Directions: Red Deer at 300,000' anticipating that the city would more than triple in size over the next 45 to 75 years.
 
Before making any decisions about its future plans for Gasoline Alley and the south of Red Deer, before initiating discussions with the County about an updated Intermunicipal Development Plan, before developing a future annexation strategy and before taking it to City Council for approval, the City requested feedback on the report from city and surrounding residents.
 
For awhile, it looked like an opportunity existed for the two municipalities to negotiate a mutually-beneficial plan for future development on the city's fringe that would create a long term vision respecting each other's needs and allowing for each municipality to take advantage of the current growth opportunity in the centre of Alberta's economic boom.
 
The report was similar in some respects to the County's vision proposal of the previous year. It even suggested that the city co-operate with the county in developing Gasoline Alley, allowing the area to remain under County jurisdiction for the foreseeable future.
 
However, a Revised Future Directions Strategy was released in December that created shock waves at the County and in Gasoline Alley.
 
The new plan recommended that Gasoline Alley and the industrial land south of the city be annexed into the city within 10 years. The county determined that the new direction would be devastating to the County's tax base and its future plan for the area. The Gasoline Alley area alone generates one third of the County's annual revenue. The overall plan integrates 80% of the County's industrial tax base into the City.
 
The plan also recommended that an undeveloped buffer be maintained between the future city and the hamlet of Springbrook where the Red Deer Regional Airiport is located.
 
Although the concept plan was logical in that it maintained the downtown as the centre of the city, balanced commercial and industrial land use, and preserved a considerable amount of green space, it created a multitude of challenges for both the City and the County.
  
The plan turns Highway QE2 into an internal arterial roadway and brings the railroad back into the city. Annexing land west and south would be very costly in infrastructure development at a time when the city is already faced with a massive debt for infrastructure projects within the current city boundary.
 
In a dramatic turn of events early in 2007, the two municipal councils met and, realizing that the bickering was bad for the economy of the region and that their respective plans weren't in as much conflict with one another as originally perceived, decided to update the Intermunicipal Development Plan. In almost record time, the new plan was adopted by both councils in July.
 
The City and County still have to work out compensation but a new era of co-operation has apparently begun that will have a positive effect on the entire region. Most of the county's land offer of 2005 and the city's plan for a population of 300,000 have been incorporated into the new plan with annexation of the future city growth area to be completed in 10 years (the salmon-coloured area on the map at right - the grey areas are annexations currently being pursued).
 
The area south of the city including Gasoline Alley will remain in county jurisdiction (dark pink) and the county plan for the new Liberty Crosssing can proceed. A buffer no-growth zone (green) will be created between Gasoline Alley/Liberty Crossing and Springbrook/ Red Deer Airport. With an additional 40,000 acres being added to the city, the county should not have to be concerned about being the city's land bank for the next 100 years.
 
The city and the county have also initiated a joint area structure plan, the largest ever done in the province, consisting of 100,000 acres that includes the future city growth area, the fringe area east and west of the future growth area and beyond. However, the area south and southwest of the city will not be included in this plan as it will be covered by a revised Springbrook Gasoline Alley area structure plan.
 
Several years of co-operation between the City and the County had been severely tested over an eighteen month period and both councils are determined that they never find themselves in that position again.
 
But in the end, the conflict created a new respect and understanding of each other's aspirations in the economic well-being of the entire region.

City and County Working Together for Growth                                                     
Future City Growth Maps                          Back to Feature Page                                                                   

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