ASP 101

ASP 101

What's Included in an ASP?

An Area Structure Plan (ASP) is a statutory planning document submitted to a municipality that acts as a high-level blueprint for what can take place on a specific area of land.

Foothills County and developers will use the Oxbow ASP document as a framework to guide development of the plan area.

Residents and neighbours will be able to use the Oxbow ASP to understand how their community will continue to evolve and grow.

The following elements will be included within the Oxbow ASP.

Development

The type and general location of development.

Density

The number of people who will live and work in the community in the future.

Transportation

A vision for the transportation network.

Greenspace

A proposed plan for open space, parks, and trails.

Enviromental Well-Being

A comprehensive understanding of existing environmental conditions and the mitigation measures that reduce, mitigate, and compensate for potential impacts.

Infrastructure + Servicing

A plan for stormwater management, utilities, and municipal support service networks that will meet the future needs of the plan area.

Development Staging

A sequence for staging development of the plan area.

Policy Context

A change in policy.

We have been continuing to work to ensure the alignment of the updated Oxbow ASP with applicable legislative and policy provisions. In addition to conforming with higher order policy such as the South Saskatchewan Region Plan, we have ensured we are in conformance with the following:

Calgary Metropolitan Region Board, Growth Plan, 2021
Foothills County is a member of the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB). In 2021, the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB) approved the Growth Plan (GP) to manage strategic regional planning for future growth in the Calgary Metropolitan Region. As a result, any statutory plan of regional significance must be submitted to the CMRB for review and approval.

If approved, the Oxbow ASP will be deemed a statutory plan. We are committed to developing a plan that is consistent with the CMRB's Growth Plan (GP) and Regional Evaluation Framework (REF), including:

• reducing the area of the Oxbow ASP to 640 acres to conform with the CMRB’s policy and design direction for Hamlet Growth Areas

• locating the Oxbow community over 9 km from an existing Urban Municipality (i.e., City of Calgary) via the major road network and further being physically separated by the Bow River

• planning an integrated community with a mix of residential, commercial and institutional uses, including mixed use nodes development and a neighbourhood main street

• connecting to full servicing through planned water and sanitary servicing and to key transportation networks

• consistent with Foothills’ support for developing communities rather than individual lots.

• celebration of the area’s rural character in tandem with the intensification of development in identified growth areas.

• development that “provides different types of housing, recreational uses, transportation options, jobs, and services within the community itself. (p. 6)

Want to know more?

Are you curious about the planning framework that guides growth in this area? We have compiled a list of the planning policies that all growth within Foothills County is required to follow.