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New housing strategy included in Olds' proposed MDP, land use changes

Addition of extra internal and external secondary suites and reduction of land use districts contemplated
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Chelseay Rudolph, who works for ISL. ISL is the consultant assisting us with the review. I hope that clears it up. Rudolph of the consulting company ISL speaks with Barbara Crozier (foreground in red coat) during the Municipal Development Plan/Land Use Bylaw open house held July 22 at Jean's Place in the Olds Community Connection Centre. Doug Collie/MVP Staff

OLDS The Town of Olds is currently updating both its municipal development plan (MDP) and land use bylaw (LUB) including proposed changes that would reduce the number of land use districts in town from 27 to 13.

The MDP lays out the long-term vision for how the town grows.

The LUB is “the tool used to implement that vision, basically stating what can be built where,” James Crozier, the municipality’s manager of planning and infrastructure said in an email to the Albertan.

Some of the changes planned for the MDP include a new vision statement, updating statistics, and making the document “more readable,” Crozier wrote.

“The land use bylaw is getting a more thorough review, as it was originally adopted in 2001 and has roughly 400 amendments to date,” he added.

Some of the major changes proposed for the LUB include reducing the number of land use districts in town from 27 to 13.

Another proposed change is to allow one internal secondary suite (in a basement for example) and one external suite (in a garage or garden for example) per parcel.

Another proposed change would allow “some small-scale commercial development in residential areas” at council’s discretion and “allowing for more types of compatible housing in more areas,” he said.

About 15 people attended a recent open house regarding the proposed MDP and LUB changes.

The event was held in the late afternoon, early evening July 22 at Jean’s Place in the Community Connection Centre.

It came on the heels of another open house held about a week earlier during a farmer’s market at the Olds Regional Exhibition grounds. That event attracted about two dozen people.

“Overall, we are happy with the discussions that we had,” said Crozier.

“We always hope to engage with as many members of the public as possible, so after we get the numbers from the online engagement, we’ve engaged with a decent proportion of the population.”

An online open house to get comment from residents ran until July 27.

“There has been a lot of discussion around affordable housing, and how we manage growth in a smart and thoughtful way,” Crozier wrote. “Once the comment period closes, we will be reviewing all the comments we’ve heard and determining how to best address them.”

After that, the plan is to send the draft MDP and LUB to council for first reading in mid-August. That would lay the groundwork for a public hearing in September.

“In the meantime, we will be continuing to gather feedback from various stakeholders, and pulling the final details together,” Crozier wrote.

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