Canmore Leader Article - New Town Proposed

New town proposed for Seebe site
Envisioned development could have room for big box stores and over 5,000 residents

By Aaron Paton

Published:  November 08, 2006

Long-awaited plans for the former Seebe townsite and the land around it call for industrial and commercial business centres, a town core and up to 3,200 new residences.

Developers say there's even room for big box retail like Canadian Tire or Wal-Mart on the site that includes a former TransAlta Utilities company town.

Construction of what's known as the Horseshoe Lands development project could begin as early as December 2007 if it is approved by M.D. Bighorn council.

Moondance Land Company and the Stoney Nakoda Nation are working in partnership to develop the land, which is privately owned freehold land surrounded by the Stoney Nakoda First Nations reservation 30 kilometres east of Canmore.

"We're looking at a town the size of Canmore the way it was 10 or 12 years ago," said John Third, manager of public relations and management for the Horseshoe Lands project. "This is an exciting opportunity for us and the municipality... it provides them a new tax base."

Third and development manager Don Lee took the proposed area structure plan for the massive development to council yesterday. If the district approves the proposed population density, once fully developed, the 538-acre site would house roughly four times the current population of the remaining M.D.
Bighorn had a total population of about 1,300 when the last federal census was completed in 2001. That number is expected to increase somewhat when 2006 census figures are released.

"The MD ultimately decides how many residences to allow," Third said. "But if you estimate two people per residence then that's 6,400 people total."

He later added that reduced costs on residential units would be used as an incentive for people who want to run an industrial business, like a lumber yard for example.

The proposed area structure plan outlines potential residential areas, commercial areas, a town centre and several employment areas to encourage people to both live and work in the community. The site lies in the foothills directly north of the Highway 40 interchange on the border between the Rocky Mountains and Morley flats and includes existing electrical transformer station development for two TransAlta dams on the Bow River.

Areas designated for residential use are divided up into sections of low (five units per acre), medium (12 to 20 UPA) and high density (27 to 45 UPA) housing, ranging from single family homes to four and five-storey buildings in the town centre.

The downtown will have commercial, retail and residential and public service uses with medium to high-density buildings.


Ten to 15 per cent of the housing will be slated as affordable housing. Third said housing lots could cost less than $100,000 depending on the real estate market, but he was unwilling to speculate further on specific prices of lots or houses.

"It is not expected that the housing prices in the Horseshoe area will be as exorbitant as those further into the mountains," the proposed ASP says.

It also indicates that the developers may look at a need-to-reside program in the new community.

Third spoke with clarity at the mention of words like "satellite" or "bedroom" community.

He said that people already living or working in the Bow Valley would likely see the Horseshoe Lands project as an opportunity to live and work close to home.

The draft ASP says the Horseshoe Lands development "will provide a combined rural/urban lifestyle with a variety of housing for permanent and seasonal residents... Attracting employment to the Horseshoe Lands is necessary for balance in the community and to avoid the creation of a ‘bedroom' community."

Development of the area must follow Bighorn's municipal development plan, which indicates that development can only take place if it creates a "functioning, sustainable community" that provides "substantial employment on site through commercial or possibly industrial development."

That opens the door to everything from coffee shops and storefronts to lumberyards and even the possibility of big box stores like Canadian Tire or Wal-Mart.

"There probably is room for a Wal-Mart on the site," Third said. "But we haven't talked to anyone from Wal-Mart... It's a little premature right now to be talking about that."

He added that if Wal-Mart came to the Bow Valley, it would likely be built in Canmore before the Horseshoe Lands.

An access road to the site from the Highway 40 interchange has already been approved and will pass through reservation land.

The proposed plan recommends simultaneous development of residential and commercial buildings.

"As you build a community you will need the general amenities that people need," Third said. "We might look at some multi-family units first so that people have neighbours... maybe the start of a town centre."

Water supply may be a hurdle for the developers because the Alberta government has put a moratorium on surface water withdrawals in the Bow River basin. That means water may have to be drawn from deep wells that do not have hydrological connections to the Bow River.

The M.D. has recently drilled a well at Exshaw, the cost of which escalated to $301,000.

Third said the developer partnership would consider drilling a well on the Horseshoe Lands if M.D. council decides that the Exshaw well cannot be used to support the Horseshoe Lands development.

The water distribution system envisioned for the development could stretch as far as Exshaw and Dead Man's Flats in the west to Morley in the east, and also service developments on the reservation like the casino slated to be built nearby on a parcel southeast of the Highway 40/Trans-Canada junction.

Access roads could also be shared. There is the possibility of further development around the Horseshoe Lands, but it's not specifically included in the land covered by the proposed ASP.

The Canadian Rockies Public Schools board would decide if and when a school would be needed at the Horseshoe Lands.

The decision would have to be agreed upon by the M.D. Third said a firehall would be unnecessary until there are at least 1,000 residences on the site.

The draft ASP says that current Bighorn residents will not be expected to bear further property tax hikes as a result of new development.

The plan protects potential historical buildings like the superintendent's house and the one-room schoolhouse that remain on the Seebe site, which was last home to residents in August 2004.

Read more about Horseshoe Lands