The days are numbered for one of the province’s toughest nine hole golf courses as Harvest Hills Golf Course has been sold to a development company which plans to convert the land into an ‘extension of the existing residential community’.
According to Harvest Hills residents, including those who own property which currently backs onto the course, Cedarglen Homes notified them of the sale through a letter left on their doorsteps.
“We had heard nothing about it,” said Harvest Hills resident Mandy Young. “It’s a home developer who bought the land, everybody’s aware of that, and there’s been lots of neighbourhood chatting. We’ve had several meetings already because we all just feel kind of sick.”
2015 is scheduled to be the final golf season at Harvest Hills Golf Course
In the letter, dated October 28, 2014, Howard Tse, Cedarglen Homes president, says ‘Cedarglen has no plans in place for the proposed project’ and the company is ‘committed to a collaborative, transparent and respectful approach to planning’.
“It’s not just about the property value dropping, which is what’s going to happen, it’s about the loss of the green space and that community feeling and the beauty that’s around us,” explains Young, who moved to Harvest Hills in 2007. “It’s a real nice tranquil green space, there’s lots of wildlife that roam around the golf course.”
Young says the local school is currently above capacity with many children attending classes in portables and there has been a noticeable increase in neighbourhood traffic since 96 Ave. N.E. was extended to Deerfoot Trail. She has concerns the community lacks the resources to accommodate an influx of new residents.
Geotechnical, environmental and transportation assessments of the land will be conducted throughout the remainder of the year.
The development manager for the project, QuantumPlace Developments Ltd., has not submitted a residential expansion application with the City of Calgary.
“Cedarglen Homes builds singles, duplexes, townhouses and multi-family,” said Chris Ollenberger, managing principal of QuantumPlace Developments Ltd. “They can do a wide gamut of residential development.”
“They don’t know exactly what the right mix is - how much park space, where we’re putting in pathways. They literally came to us with a blank sheet of paper and said ‘We’d like your help engaging the public and helping us design a community’.”
Since Thursday, Ward 3 Councillor Jim Stevenson’s office has fielded dozens of emails and calls from Harvest Hills residents about the possible redevelopment.
“From what they (the developers) are telling me, they’re going to take the next few months to a year to talk to the community association and the adjoining neighbours to come up with something that hopefully everyone will be happy with,” said Councillor Stevenson.
Cedarglen Homes has scheduled three drop-in sessions at the Harvest Hills Golf Course where s residents my voice any concerns they may have about future development in the neighbourhood:
- Tuesday, November 4 - 5:00 p.m.
- Wednesday, November 5 - Noon
- Thursday, November 6 - 5:00 p.m.
For more information on the redevelopment of the area, visit Harvest Hills Residential Expansion
