Archived Springbrook and Area News
March 2007

Mar. 29, 2007
Residential Developers Interested in Gasoline Alley
A Vancouver developer has indicated an interest in developing 90 acres of housing lots in Gasoline Alley West in an area that Red Deer County has named Liberty Crossing. The area will feature urban densities with stacked townhouse designs and modern duplexes. It's expected that the developer will apply for subdivision this summer. The county concept plan for Gasoline Alley includes a neon-lit highway commercial street called The Strip (Leva Avenue), a automobile themed street called The Cruise, a combination shops and housing street called High Street (Liberty Avenue), and an urban walkway called The Promenade. The plan recently won an honourable mention by the Canadian Institute of Planners.

Mar. 28, 2007
County Resolutions Support City Land Purchase and Annexation
Red Deer County unanimously approved two resolutions yesterday, one supporting the Red Deer's bid to annex 1,300 acres of land west of Highway QE2 and south of Highway 11A for industrial use and the second, to approve the sale of 320 acres within the same area directly to the city to help kick start industrial development.

Mar. 24, 2007
Gasoline Alley Stays in County with New Agreement
Gasoline Alley will remain in Red Deer County jurisdiction and will continue to develop with limited office development and a residential community that could reach 8,000. The area between Springbrook and Gasoline Alley will be a no-development zone and remain agricultural, even as the city approaches a population of 300,000. After almost a year and a half of tension, disputes and frustration, Red Deer County and Red Deer City councils have developed an agreement that will set the stage for co-operative future development around the city. The county will support the city's bid to annex several quarter sections of land for industrial development west of Highway QE2 and south of Highway 11A. The county will sell two of those quarter sections directly to the city, and the county will also support a further annexation of 35 quarter sections north and east of the city for residential and mixed development. The city will immediately drop all disputes with the county over industrial development south of the city. The agreement will form the foundation for a new Intermunicipal Development Plan, long term growth of the city and co-operation between both planning departments for all fringe development. In addition, the municipalities will jointly create an attractive gateway to the greater Red Deer area on each approach to the city on Highway QE2. Future growth of Springbrook, beyond what is already planned, will be southward.

Mar. 20, 2007
Sky Wings Aviation Academy Celebrates 25 Years
Sky Wings Aviation Academy, located in Springbrook next to the Regional Airport Red Deer, is celebrating 25 years in the flight training business. Over 3,000 students have had flying instruction from one of Alberta's largest flight training schools. The company also offers charter service, fuel sales, aircraft storage and maintenance and has the copyright to five air training manuals distributing more than 1,000 copies annually across Canada. Equipment includes a state-of-the-art flight simulator, a twin-engine Navajo 600 for charters and several trainer aircraft.

Mar. 13, 2007
Census 2006 Shows Explosive Growth in Region
The hamlet of Springbrook recorded a population of 956 in the 2006 Census, an increase of 20 over the previous census in 2001. Several communities in the Red Deer Region experienced explosive growth in the same 5 year period and exceeded not only the average Canadian increase but also the average Alberta increase, the fastest growing province in the country. Red Deer's population increased 22% in the five years from 67,829 in 2001 to 82,772 in 2006. Blackfalds experienced a 46.7% increase, growing from 3,116 to 4,571. Sylvan Lake grew 36.1% during the same time period from 7,503 to 10,208. Lacombe, Penhold and Rocky Mountain House also outpaced the provincial average increase of 10.6%. The official population of Alberta at the time of the census on May 16, 2006 was 3,290,350, slightly more than 10% of the country.

Mar. 7, 2007
Airport Traffic Sets Record in January
Takeoffs and landings set a record in January for that month at the Regional Airport Red Deer with 3,006 movements. This has offset a decline in movements in 2006, although it was still well ahead of the target of 40,000 movements per year. Further development at the airport is being hindered somewhat until renovations and expansion takes place and old infrastructure is replaced.
County Gives Final Approval to Penhold Annexation
Red Deer County has given final approval to a 700-acre annexation agreement with the Town of Penhold. It means the town can expand north by two quarter sections, south by another two quarters and east by half a quarter. The north sections will be used mostly for industrial, the south for residential and the east for recreation including a planned multi-use facility.

Mar. 5, 2007
Red Deer County Doubles Building Permits in 2006
The value of building permits in Red Deer County almost doubled in 2006 compared to the year earlier. A total of $108 million in development was approved, including $46 million in residential, $40 million in industrial, $18 million in commercial and $4 million in institutional construction. In 2005, $56.5 million in permits were approved. One of the larger commercial projects currently under way is the $10 million cinema in Gasoline Alley. Also under way is the residential development in east Springbrook.

 
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