COLD LAKE - Cold Lake residents gathered at the Cold Lake Energy Centre’s main corridor to participate in an open house discussing the proposed Cold Lake South Outline Plan on Nov. 13.
From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., the open house provided a platform for public engagement and feedback on the development vision for parcels of land located north of 54 Avenue and Brady Heights. The open house was hosted by the City of Cold Lake.
The event’s purpose was to inform the community about potential development areas and gather public input on issues like drainage, park spaces, and trail systems.
“The reason for this open house is to just kind of give the public some more information regarding the new outline plan that we have coming up,” said Wade Friesen, an engineering technologist for the City of Cold Lake, speaking to Lakeland This Week.
He further described the City’s hopes for land situated “just north of 54th Avenue from the highway basically to the City limits,” as a place where “developers [can] come in and purchase a portion of the property or the whole thing if they are interested in buying it.”
With the City’s subdivisions nearing maximum capacity, new housing options are in high demand.
According to Friesen, the outline plan aims to add more “low-density residential, more starter homes,” and even “medium-density residential as well, like apartment buildings or duplexes.”
He also noted that the area is particularly appealing due to its proximity to key amenities.
“Being close to downtown, close to No Frills, the mall, we're looking for areas that more people can just have access to . . . We're not really looking for more stores, we are looking for more housing. Housing is the big driver for this one.”
The outline plan, designed to be accessible to smaller developers, has been crafted to make development feasible and attractive by providing connections to essential services such as water management and stormwater systems.
“If we have this portion of land that is easily developable with just quick connections to the sanitary stormwater and everything, we will start that for them and they can just go from there,” Friesen said.
To ensure the community is involved, the City sought feedback from residents surrounding the land.
“We are looking for information from the surrounding residents. It is the most important.”
Community engagement will continue to play a role, and developers have also been invited to review and share their interest in the land.
“There will be a resident and engagement section in the plan as well, just to understand what we heard and how we want to move forward if there is a drastic, different opinion that the public has,” he noted.
Future stages of development may take varying forms, with Friesen noting that options include mobile homes, residential homes, apartments, or condominiums.
He assured, “We can definitely come back to the public for sure.”
The plan includes essential features like parks, connected trails, and stormwater management in areas prone to flooding.
“We are incorporating a lot of parks in this area. There are a bunch of connections and storm management as well. [The] area is a low-lying area, so there will be a large drainage parkway that's being planned through this whole north section of the lot,” Friesen explained.
He emphasized that, while the outline plan provides a vision for the area, there’s no firm timeline for construction.
Instead, the City is gauging interest from potential developers to see who might come forward to build in the area.
“There’s no real plan for it at this stage . . . We’re just forming an idea of how our City assets or land can be used. If we have a plan to move forward, it will depend on developer interest. If growth isn’t immediate but there’s potential, the City may step in to help jump-start development.”
