COLD LAKE – Residents in the City of Cold Lake are being asked to provide their feedback when it comes to long-term growth.
The municipality has completed a pair of draft long-term planning documents that set a clear path for how Cold Lake and the surrounding area in the MD of Bonnyville will grow and develop in the future.
The Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP) is a coordinated land-use policy agreement between the two municipalities and is now ready for public review and feedback before being formally adopted by both councils.
The plans lay out a coordinated and cooperative framework for managing the use and development of lands within the MD adjacent to the city.
“Our current IDP with the MD of Bonnyville was adopted back in 2009 and a lot has changed over these past 12 years,” said Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland. “We’re encouraged that we were able to draft a plan which takes into account land recently annexed by the City and better reflects our new and emerging priorities.”
The City and MD, in consultation with ISL Engineering and Land Services Inc., have been conducting technical reviews of risks and opportunities since 2019, gathering input from the respective administrations and councils, along with consulting with affected landowners.
There has also been a completed draft of a Municipal Development Plan (MDP) by the city to update the current record, which was meant to update the original one that was adopted in 2009. It’s a long-range planning document that sets out how and where future development and growth should occur with the city’s limits.
“It takes into account the city’s economic, social and environmental goals and provides policy direction for land use, infrastructure, community facilities/services and environmental protection and sustainability,” the municipality said in a statement. “Along with addressing new requirements under the Municipal Government Act (MGA) and identifying issues and opportunities for future development, the updated MDP provides a framework for growth in Cold Lake over the next 50 years (2020 to 2070) and an increase in population from approximately 15,000 currently, to 40,000.”
Copeland added, “Any new development will have to complement both the MDP and IDP, once they are adopted. We completed the first phase of public consultation for the updated Municipal Development Plan back in the summer and fall of 2019. We took what we learned and used it to further develop the draft plan. Now we’re ready to show it to our residents once again and make sure we’re headed in the right direction.”
In-person community engagement sessions to gather public feedback on both the IDP and MDP are tentatively planned for later this year and will be dependent on COVID-19 public gathering restrictions in place at that time.
To review the draft IDP and MDP documents, visit https://coldlake.com/content/mdp-and-idp-public-engagement.
