The City is adopting a new Guidebook for Great Communities (GGC) which directs how communities will evolve and grow. The Guidebook is the tool (statutory policy) that sets out guidance and a common understanding of how development will contribute to a great community.
The new Guidebook will influence the way that the City approaches development in all communities and will be used in conjunction with local area planning (i.e., Area Redevelopment Plans also called Local Area Plans (LAPs)).
The City has been working with other communities on their LAPs and have lumped similar communities together into Multi-Community Local Area Plans that include policies for a group of communities instead of stand-alone plans (such as the Elbow Park Charter), as was the practice in the past.
Elbow Park has not yet been included in a multi-community LAP and we don't know which other communities we will be lumped in with. Multi-Community LAPs will provide a larger picture of assessing amenities - like parks and schools, infrastructure - like roads and sewer, and shopping or service areas that impact community evolution spanning numerous communities.
Our Elbow Park Development Strategy is to complete work on our Elbow Park Area Plan now. That is part of what the new Planning Committee work is all about. Based on feedback that we get from Elbow Park residents, this group will create a Local Area Plan specific to Elbow Park.
The city wants to increase density in ALL neighbourhoods and we want to ensure that we have a solid document that will provide guidelines as to where it should be located and what type it should be.
You will be receiving a survey in the future that will ask you specific questions about development in Elbow Park. Please take the opportunity to respond in order to ensure that your voice is heard.
For more information on the Guidebook:
https://www.calgary.ca/PDA/pd/Documents/Current-studies-and-ongoing-activities/guidebook/developed-areas-guidebook-proposed.pdf
