Recorded vote

That with respect to Alderman D. Colley-Urquhart's Revised Motion, NM2011-41, the following be adopted: WHEREAS “lifestyle communities” provide citizens with the opportunity to experience diverse lifestyles, are promoted on the basis of an expected “lifestyle” offered by the recreational amenities in the built environment, and evolve on the premise that they are a permanent, longer commitment approved by Council; and WHEREAS golf courses, private lakes and other major recreational amenities are considered lifestyle communities that represent small suburban communities with a specific form and character and a Special-Purpose – Recreation District (S-R) designation under Land Use Bylaw 1P2007, with Section 248 defining an Outdoor Recreation Area as a use where people participate in sports and athletic activities outdoors; and WHEREAS golf courses, private lakes and other major recreational amenities, municipally-owned, or resident-owned, or privately-owned recreational uses, and the practice of identifying a golf course, private lake and other major recreational amenity within a community, in an ASP, is confusing and arbitrary, and does not clearly reflect the policy intent for golf courses, private lakes and other major recreational amenities because ASP policy on golf course communities is derivative, rather than prescriptive; and WHEREAS based on past practice and planning decisions, the integration of golf courses, private lakes and other major recreational amenities into residential communities has been assumed to be an acceptable practice in Calgary, and community-based golf courses, private lakes and other major recreational amenities are considered to be a positive feature in the City; and WHEREAS some homeowners in “Lifestyle Communities” may assume that golf courses, private lakes and other major recreational amenities are integrated and permanent development within that community, leading to the creation of expectation that the use will continue indefinitely and subsequent investments; and WHEREAS the creation of golf courses, private lakes and other major recreational amenities results from decisions by both the municipality and the developer, and these decisions result in homeowner confidence and certainty, but currently no policy that promotes or prohibits private golf course redevelopment within residential communities in the new Municipal Development Plan; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Administration prepare a report directly to Council no later than 2012 January that outlines the legal and planning considerations associated with lifestyle communities and recreational land.