EDITORIAL COMMENT - July 26/06 - City and County are Partners in Growth

 
Editorial Comment

July 26, 2006

City and County are Partners in Growth

Consultation, co-operation, mutual respect, and vision would go a long way to ease the friction between the City and County, two competing municipalities whose taxpayers would be better served by their administrations acting as equal partners rather than adversaries.

World events (including the price of oil) have created a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the Red Deer area. It has also created urgent challenges that cannot be resolved by simply asking the provincial government to take sides.

No one saw the explosive growth coming in time to plan properly for it, especially the demand for industrial land.

In trying to find a short-term solution to its rapid loss of land inventory, the City departed from the Inter-municipal Development Plan, agreed to by both the City and the County, by indicating it wanted to expand west of Highway 2 rather than southeast as originally planned.

The City apparently assumed that the County would sympathize with its plight and go along with it without revising the IDP. The City was very disappointed when this didn’t happen.

The County wants a long-term predictable plan (including an update of the IDP) so that growth can occur systematically and investment can be directed in a sustainable fashion. Therein lies the problem – short-term vs long-term.

The dilemma is that rapid growth doesn’t allow much time for long-term planning. The demand is now.  

Unfortunately, each municipality developed a growth strategy separately rather than as partners, resulting in conflicting strategies for the area surrounding the city. Creating balance between business, infrastructure, services, agriculture and the environment requires consultation and a sense of partnership between equals even if their respective needs are different.

Last fall, the County initiated a plan by offering to the City all the land it would want and need for the next 50-100 years, including the proposed annexation lands and more to the west, north, east and southeast of the current city limits.

The City turned it down for some good reasons. That’s a lot of land to suddenly be responsible for. Infrastructure and services alone would have created a nightmare at a time when the City is already experiencing tremendous pressure from rapid internal growth.

The County proposal may not be perfect, and it has some conditions, but it is visionary. There is no reason why it can’t be the basis of a plan for the systematic integration of land into the city and a starting point for progressive consultation between the two municipalities.

On one level, there is already an economic partnership called the 3C but a political and planning partnership is vital to its success.

A local solution to both short and long term planning is far superior to a provincially-imposed one. It’s time to step back and look at the bigger picture, immediately and with resolve. Holding up land development for political reasons can only do harm to the reputations of both the City and County.

One option might be for the two municipalities to create a semi-autonomous 'authority', 'board' or 'commission' (like the old Regional Planning Commission) with appointments not only from each of the municipalities but also from the business and agricultural community.

This 'commission' could develop a long-term vision for the area within a 3 to 5 mile radius of the City, plan for the systematic annexation of parcels into the City as required, offer short-term solutions when demand is particularly high, and maintain a balance between the issues that affect both the City and the County.

Another alternative might be joint development of lands around the city with tax-sharing and responsibility-sharing between the two municipalities.

Surely a co-operative and locally-made solution will provide the most benefit to both County and City residents well into the future.

Paul Pettypiece

published in Red Deer Express July 26, 2006

Other commentaries on this subject:
News Flash! Mar. 23, 2007 - City and County Working Together for Growth
Editorial comment Dec. 27, 2006 - 'Gasoline Alley Annexation Will Be Costly to Taxpayers'
Background Report Dec. 16, 2006 - 'City and County Disputes . . . Challenge and Opportunity'
Background Report Dec. 16, 2006 - 'The Dynamics of Competitive Rapid Growth'
Editorial comment July 26, 2006 - 'Annexation Spat Needs Local Fix'
Editorial comment Mar. 9, 2006 - 'City/County Dispute Will Benefit No One'
Editorial comment Feb. 24, 2006 - 'City and County Need Joint Vision'
Red Deer Future Growth Maps
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