As Alberta's Land Use Framework begins with regional plans in the Lower Athabasca and South Saskatchewan regions, sub-regional planning for the Edmonton and Calgary areas are already out of the gate. However, the Capital Region Integrated Growth Management Board and the Calgary Regional Partnership have taken different paths to reach their current status.
In March and April, the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) toured its draft Calgary Regional Plan in a series of open houses and a public comment period. Ultimately, the plan will become part of the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan under Alberta's Land-use Framework (LUF).
The Calgary Regional Partnership is made up of 17 member municipalities and the Tsuu T'ina Nation with support but no direct oversight from the province. The result is a plan that attempts to balance water servicing from Calgary with a regional growth strategy that aims to limit additional growth in the region over the next 60 to 70 years as the population in the Calgary area grows by 1.6 million people. Under the business as usual scenario the footprint would grow by 125,000ha. Through a series of development nodes the CRP plan aims to keep the additional print to 45,000ha. Detailed draft plan information can viewed on the CRP website. The Capital Region Board leads planning in the Edmonton region. For this plan, the province plays a much stronger role, even appointing the chair of the planning board. Chairman Christopher Sheard, a lawyer and businessman with 25-year career in the natural gas and electricity industries, was appointed by the premier in 2008 to work with the 25 municipalities in the region to develop a 20 to 50 year growth plan.
Formally established as a board in April 2008, the Capitol Region Board's plan identifies four priorities. Unlike the CRP's emphasis on water servicing, the Capitol plan's four priorities focus on balancing land-use zones, establishing inter-municipal transit, creating planning information services for municipalities to share, and affordable housing. More details can be found at the province's website.
Both metropolitan plans will face the challenge of integrating with the province's watershed-based regional plans. The Calgary Regional Plan will need to dovetail with the upcoming South Saskatchewan Regional Plan. While the Capitol Plan will need to align with the future regional plan for the North Saskatchewan watershed.
