July 2018

186 187 AIRDRIE, ALBERTA ada Turbine, as well as important service industries, such as the RockyView Schools Division, Fortis Al- berta, and Condillo Foods (a division of Old Dutch). “Most of Airdrie’s employment areas are focused into four industrial areas,”explains Rupert.“The orig- inal East Lake industrial park was developed by the City in the 1980s.Then, in 2004,we annexed land and brought on three other industrial parks that are now almost at capacity, though there remains development opportunities within.To accommodate our future employment and population growth, we annexed over 12,000 acres in 2012.Within that annexation area are six quarter sections (960 acres) identified as strictly industrial lands.We’re currently doing a community area structure plan for that area, known as ‘East Points,’ to lay out the framework for the development of that industrial park area.” For Airdrie, preparing for the next major employ- ment area is all part of looking at the bigger picture for growth, something that Community Growth Manager, Stephen Utz, notes the City has made a priority over the last fewyears.“On June 18, Council adopted the 12,000 Acres Plan, a high-level land use concept for the full 12,640 acres.The draft plan, done in consultation and collaborationwith landown- ers in those annexed acres,identifies about 60 percent of the lands for residential,30 percent for industrial, and 10 percent for commercial.That will helpmeet council’s stated objective of a 25 percent non-resi- dential and a 75 percent residential tax base. Sustainability is clearly top of mind for Airdrie as it develops, as all proposals are run through several filters, including the AirdrieONE Sustainability Plan, which was adopted at the time of the annexation in 2012, placing a priority on green spaces. In 2013, Airdrie followed up on the Sustainability Plan by adopting an Ecological Inventory and Environmen- tal Best Practices document to identify the most KENT RUPERT TEAM LEADER OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STEPHEN UTZ MANAGER OF COMMUNITY GROWTH Over the last few years, we’ve seen a real uptake on transportation and logistics, manufacturing, and professional services. Those are the three key economic drivers we’ve been focusing on. KENT RUPERT prominent ecological locations in the city.The 12,000 Acres Plan has incorporated that information into areas that are likely to be preserved as environ- mentally significant and protected from develop- ment as Airdrie grows over the next 50 years. According to Utz,“Our AirdrieONE Sustainability Plan is a triple-bottom-line plan that looks at so- cial, economic, and environmental sustainability. In addition to the Ecological and Environmental Best Practices document,we’ve undertaken other sus- tainable initiatives directed by the AirdrieONE plan, including an urban agricultural program.We devel- oped an urban orchard in 2013; the last two years we’ve begun work on a backyard hen pilot project; and most recently a pilot for urban beekeeping on a limited amount of public land, and private lands next year.” Rupert adds,“We have a few residential lakes within the community and about 140 km of linear pathways, so every neighbourhood has pathways and, in theory, there’s nowhere you can’t go on our paths.We also have an area called ‘The Canals’–a bit of a lake community that goes from the north end of Airdrie to the south. It’s a retention pond con- cept that provides a great public amenity. In addi- tion,we have 1,300 acres of maintained parkland. In