Calgary City Council votes to discuss annexation of small parcel of land in Foothills County

Calgary City Council voted Monday night to go ahead with annexation talks with Foothills County over a small piece of land on the city's southern boundary.

The land, which is located just north of the Sirocco Golf Club, would help the city boost its land supply, some councillors say.

"A larger land supply that we control is really something that future councils will need to consider," said Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart.

City officials say Calgary already has a 30- to 40-year supply of developable land in the south, but Colley-Urquhart says it's better to hold even more land inside the city boundaries.

"We've got to get off this old notion that 30 years of land supply is enough if we really want to have complete communities in the future," she said.

She added that there will be no capital costs since roads, utilities and other city services are already planned for surrounding new neighbourhoods.

Mayor disagrees

Mayor Naheed Nenshi argued that the annexation is a waste of time.

He said the work will take up scarce resources and that three full-time equivalent employees would be needed for the project.

"City resources are stretched to the limit. There's so much going on, so many big issues to do and to spend three people's time for a year or more on this little piece just doesn't seem to make sense to me," he said.

Nenshi said he thinks the only person who would benefit is the landowner.

However, council still voted 10-4 to proceed with the annexation work as long as the landowner pays the city's costs.

Even if a deal is reached, it will be years before anything can be built on the land since any plan would still require provincial approval.