BIGHORN – The 16-year land-swap saga between the MD of Bighorn and Alberta Environment and Parks may be coming to a close, after the municipality accepted a letter at its Tuesday council meeting (Feb. 12) that delineates the parcels of land that would be exchanged by the two parties.
“I’m pleased to say a considerable agreement was achieved today, just not a homerun I guess,” Reeve Dene Cooper said after the in-camera meeting.
“There are some minor details that still need to be worked with until a document could be signed. Administration will be directed to undertake the survey work to provide legal boundaries as soon as the documents are agreed to on both sides.”
The announcement comes four months after council voted 4-1 in favour of consolidating two parcels of land in the east industrial lands in Dead Man’s Flats into one large property in preparation for development.
The area of Dead Man’s Flats has been well known and in the public eye after what started as a simple land-swap negotiation between the MD of Bighorn and AEP evolved into a controversial back-and-forth for the past 16 years.
The land north of the underpass in Dead Man’s Flat was flagged for land-swap negotiations in 2003 due to the close proximity to the underpass. It was felt the lands were more aligned with conservation values of the nearby wildlife corridor and underpass, even though there was commercial development potential.
In 2012, the MD of Bighorn and the province both signed an agreement to see the land swap go ahead. In exchange for the 75 acres near the wildlife underpass in the hamlet, the MD was to get 19.2 acres of a former rock quarry site in the Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, along with three other Crown land sites outside the park.
A terms and conditions letter was signed with the belief that the exchange would eventually happen, but the letter required authorization from Alberta Tourism Parks and Recreation, since some of the Crown lands involved in the exchange were inside a provincial park. However the minister at the time declined to sign it, scuttling the landswap deal. In 2013, the land was estimated at an approximate value
of $80,000.
The hamlet then proposed an area structure plan to develop the land, which was approved in 2015. The Town of Canmore subsequently filed an appeal against it, claiming the MD’s plan to set aside 29 hectares of land for light-development would impact the functionality of the wildlife underpass on the Trans-Canada Highway and adjacent wildlife corridors.
The Municipal Government Board dismissed the appeal in March 2017, allowing the MD to move forward with its plans, however due to the ongoing negotiations with the province there remained uncertainty about the area’s future development.
But now with council accepting the letter from AEP, Cooper sounded excited for the potential closure for the issue.
“It’s not an easy thing for us to do, but it’s the right thing to do,” Cooper said.
The parcels of land in the negotiation are currently confidential.
