Area Planning
(January 2012)
Happy New Year Edgemont Residents, and may 2012 be a wonderful year for you all! Here’s what’s happening in our neck of the woods.
Culture night
I’ve submitted a separate article on this wonderful evening, but my prediction was correct: it was a great success, and may I say, that our very own Chakita Shankar, who is the Tom Baines representative on the ECA board, looked stunning in her traditional dress.
Playground areas
I attended the City of Calgary’s playground exhibition and workshop on November 8th, and gathered quite a bit of information about the various companies who supply playground equipment, as well as the process for obtaining grants from the provincial government. There may also be a change in funding that would see the fundraising needed by community groups reduced to 25% of a project. At present, the provincial government will only match 50% of funds raised. If the change goes through, the provincial government will provide 75%. This would be a positive step, but the other problem for our community is being sure that the funds will be in place, not only to build or upgrade equipment, but also to maintain it. The City of Calgary will ensure that equipment is safe, but that does not mean they will provide the funds to do that. If equipment is not maintained and is considered unsafe, then the city will have to remove it.
Another concern is providing equipment that is applicable to the age level of those who use it. We do have a growing number of youth in Edgemont who have shown an interest in the temporary skate parks that have been set up in the summer. At the playground fair, and in a presentation to the ECA board by CASE (Calgary Association of Skateboard Enthusiasts), examples of recreational areas that included skateboarding facilities were showcased. Edmonton has a number of these and they are a bonus to the community. I will be working with Bonnie Lewin and Angela Williams on how such a development could happen in our community. This could also be an initiative in co-operation with adjoining communities.
At present, there are two areas where residents have asked that playground equipment be upgraded. The first is the play area near the rink on Edgemont Drive, and the second is the playground area in the ravine, near the tennis courts and fire hall. This shows the need for a strategy to deal with the various recreational areas in Edgemont. I have had 3 residents offer to help with particular playground areas, which is wonderful, so the board will have to consider how to prioritize the areas that need attention and build a plan from there. Any resident is encouraged to come to the board with a plan as to how they could help raise money for their playground, and that could be incorporated in the overall plan.
Community Walkabout with Councilor
The walkabout took place on December 2, 2011 and was a very useful exercise for Councilor MacLeod and members of the ECA board. The first area we walked around was Edgedale Drive and Edgeford Way, which have seen continuing parking problems for both the residents, the people who work at the World Health Club and the shopping plaza. [Error! Reference source not found.], from City Roads, accompanied the group and offered some suggestions for improving the parking situation. The first was to change the complete ban on parking, at the corner of Edgemont Blvd. and Edgedale Drive, to no parking in the earlier morning. The hope is that this will stop people using this stretch to park and catch the bus, but will still be open for those who work in the plaza. The second suggestion was to create some angle parking in a portion of the alley behind the shopping plaza, which will provide some much needed spots.
The second area visited was Edgewood Drive, now designated a snow route. Merle pointed out that the city would not assess any problems created by this designation, until the winter of 2011/2012 had ended, but stated that this was a road that had needed plowing in the past.
We then moved onto Edgebrook Drive, at the corner of Edgemont Blvd. where the road narrows from 2 lanes to 1. The incidences of prangs and near misses has increase over the years and the residents have difficulty backing out of their driveways. Merle suggested that the curb be built out into a large curve (think traffic calming), so cars would be forced to react to the change in lane numbers. The final destination was a small park near the corner of Edenwold Drive and Edelweiss Drive, which is an off-leash area for dogs. A resident, whose property backs onto the park, has requested that the park be designated either NO DOGS or ON-LEASH. For this change to be considered the ECA would need to see a written request by all the residents whose properties back onto the park.
As you can tell, there is always a number of issues and concerns within the community, and both the City and the ECA are interested in improving the situation for residents. We have to be sure that there is strong support for the initiatives that we undertake so, to that end, we need residents to come forward and let us know either by email or in writing what they support.
Till next time,
Bev Johnson, Area Planning
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