This week at Council

Proposed Kineticor Area Structure Plan for East Rocky View

This week ar a special council meeting and public hearing for the approval of the Kineticor Technology Park Area Structure Plan (ASP) as well as the redesignation of 7 quarter sections of land from Ag-Gen (6 qrts.) and R-Rur (1 qrt) to S-Dat, a new designation for the purpose of Data Centers. This 10 hour hearing saw over 50 residents stand up to oppose the proposal, myself included. I had no intention of speaking on Tuesday, however the longer I listened the more it hit me, if this goes through today it puts all of ag land at risk, not just the land in the east, and that’s not ok. We have already seen a decrease in ag land for development and if the county truley wants to protect ag land it needs to do so not just in action. Tuesday we saw that action. In a 6-1 vote, RVC council refused the proposal.

While there is no denying that the need for data centers is in high demand, every single opponent asked the same questions, why in prime ag land and not in existing commercial areas? Many of councils concerns were around the number of unknowns and “privy” information that couldn’t be shared with anyone at the hearing. For the residents of Rocky View the concerns were about the possibility of a power plant in their backyard, that while not part of the ASP, was top of mind as Kineticor is an power generation company. Residents banded together to tell RVC that this kind of proposal in ag land is in no way protecting ag land, a sentiment that admin is often heard saying when rejecting proposal of much smaller scope to the residents that live in the same area.

See you around Div 2.
Bev