Alderman Stevenson’s Office
We have had great help from Alderman Jim
Stevenson’s office. There have been many requests that residents have put forward to his office and Jim’s staff have helped to direct residents to the right office or process for help. There has been excellent communication between the community association and Jim’s office. Even if our requests do not have the outcome we would like, the staff at Alderman Stevenson’s office has been excellent.
Barlow Trail Closure
We attended a meeting on Barlow Trail closure and elimination of the proposed tunnel under the runway on Barlow Trail. When the city created the NE Area Structure Plan it included a tunnel to move traffic under the new runway that will start construction early 2009-10. This new runway will accommodate more air traffic and larger planes.
Alderman Stevenson has requested Martindale to list our concerns and send them to the appropriate offices. The airport authority is on federal land and so neither the city nor the province has any jurisdiction on the airport property. However the community
association is supporting Alderman Stevenson in the building of a tunnel under Barlow Trail so we can keep the traffic flow from east to west. The closure of Barlow Trail will impact businesses in and around the airport and we feel it will have a negative impact on our community. Alderman Stevenson printed his letter in the first Community Connections magazine earlier this year. We have scanned our letter of concern on our website if you want to view it.
www.calgaryarea.com
Update 199 Martindale Blvd – Francophone Regional School Authority
The MCA updated residents in September 2007 on the development permit that we received regarding the building of a new school at 199 Martindale Blvd. It is the green space adjacent to the Deshmesh Cultural Center. The development permit process includes comments from the MCA board and we felt that the board of the Deshmesh Cultural Center should be included. We called a meeting and met with the temple board to view the permit.
After we put in our comments on the # DP2007-2952, the Alderman’s office asked the City of Calgary Transportation Infrastructure department to complete a new traffic study so we can be assured that Martindale Blvd and Martindale Drive can withstand the added traffic.
The traffic study will be completed spring 2008, however the school is going to be built and the Francophone Regional School Authority is hoping to have it open for September 2009. It will be a French only school and will have students bussed into the community from the NE quadrant.
The community association has been told that the green space was zoned for a school and the Calgary Board of Education gave up this parcel as it was not suitable for their purposes. When a parcel of land is zoned for a school the development process does not include notifying residents.
The architect and the Chairmen of the Francophone Regional School Authority meet with the community association to share their vision for this school.
The MCA board has concerns about more traffic on Martindale Blvd and traffic on the surrounding streets; however these concerns will be addressed by the traffic study.
In summary there is always a parcel of land within the community that is zoned for public use and if and when the Joint Use Consultation Committee wants to sell these parcels of land, the residents have little or no say in what the JUCC do with the land.
When you buy a house you should research what the green space is zoned for, as we know now the green space can be given away. The MCA have kept residents informed on the progress of these developments when we know about them.
East Freeway
There is construction continuing so the freeway can open in the fall of 2009. If you want an update you can visit www.infratrans.gov.ab.ca/eastgp.htm for an update on the freeway.
Metis Trail – north of Country Hills Blvd to East Freeway – this piece of Metis Trail will be built this summer and then the portion south to 80th Ave will be extended next year.
36 St. NE. – there will be paving of the existing 36 St from 80th Ave to Country Hills Blvd.
Land Use Bylaw – Effective June 1, 2008
I had the opportunity to attend an information session hosted the Federation of Calgary Communities to learn about the new Land Use Bylaw that will become effective June 1, 2008. This new bylaw has been rewritten and incorporates many changes. We have a community copy. This process took a couple of years to complete and communities did have the opportunity to participate in feedback during the process.
Welcome to New Businesses
There are many new businesses opening up in Westwinds Park and Saddletowne Circle. It is great to have the opportunity to have businesses within walking distance of our community.
Original Joe’s restaurant opened Feb. 15, 2008 and a new car wash will be opening in Westwinds this month. We would like to welcome all the new businesses that have opened this year in and
around our community. We have had some sponsorship from these businesses supporting community events. For example the Alberta Treasury Branch supporting our Movie in the Park last year. The MCA would like to thank ATB for their support. Please support our new businesses. Scotia Bank supported our NECCS Golf
Tournament last year and TD bank gave a
donation to NECCS. Safeway, Coop, and
Shoppers Drug mart have supported several functions also. Please support all these businesses so they can strive to make our community a great place to live.
Casino Update
We need two or three more volunteers for the Casino–see the volunteer section on page 3.
Please join us for any activity this summer we will be hosting many community events.
