BIG CITY DREAMS
CHESTERMERE COUNCIL CONSIDERS NEW STATUS, BUT SOME FEAR LOSS OF SMALL-TOWN FEEL
Patricia Matthews moved to Chestermere 13 years ago, when it was home to roughly 4,000 people “and a Chinese food guy that made fantastic food on Tuesday nights,” she said.
The town nearly tripled in population in a few years, by the time she became mayor in 2007.
According to this year’s census, Calgary’s eastern bedroom community has enough bedrooms to fit 17,203 people — and, Matthews believes, is ready to be called a city.
At a special town council meeting Monday, the mayor of Alberta’s next would-be city will argue that the status change would give Chestermere more clout to draw badly needed infrastructure and business investment, and have no impact on the community’s small-town feel.
Opinion on that last point is emotional and mixed.
“People here are really, really community-minded, and I don’t think that will change — at least not right away — from us being called a city,” said Lara Sigurdsen, walking into the Safeway in the shopping plaza that now stands as Chestermere’s commercial downtown. Danny Twomey, a relatively longtime resident of 10 years, said Town of Chestermere better implies what it is.
“If people asked me where I live and I said ‘the City of Chestermere,’ it just wouldn’t feel right,” he said.
If council passes the motion Monday, it will mark an unusually fast climb up the municipal ladder for the community that started as cottages around an irrigation lake.
It became a town in 1993, not long after its population passed 1,000. It became a dot on the map in 1977 when it was named a summer village — a year after cabin owners around the lake first bought their lots from the Western Irrigation District. It grew too fast and too late to develop a mainstreet downtown similar to other Calgary-area towns. Its lone cultural facility is the library, in the lower level of the town hall building.
There’s no hospital, either. But with a newly improved annexed section now approved for Waterbridge development that can ultimately fit 46,000 people, change of various flavours will come, no matter what it’s called.
Chestermere has been eligible to apply to Alberta Municipal Affairs for city status since its population eclipsed 10,000 late last decade. Several Alberta towns have long been in that position, but have chosen to preserve their humbler title — including Canmore, High River, Cochrane and Okotoks (population: 27,311).
Chestermere is ready to take the leap, with council advocates for the change saying the municipality would have more standing among 18 Alberta cities, instead of being a big player among more than 100 towns.
“This gives us a stronger voice with the province, and really helps us put a spotlight on our community when it comes to investors,” Matthews said.
There is hope, but zero guarantee the provincial government would treat the City of Chestermere differently than it does the town.
The status change would be purely a name change and have no impact on taxes or government, the town has stressed in its public consultations. The town has long bid to attract industry or large businesses, to help offset the property tax base that’s almost entirely shouldered by homeowners.
Major retailers will look at local demographics and road access, though some investors might be more attuned to economic development pitches from a town, said Robin Impey, president of the Chestermere Chamber of Commerce.
“A lot of people I think won’t hear past town as a prospect for their business because they will think it’s small,” said Impey, who operates the M&M Meat Shops in the central shopping plaza.
Most Calgarians and even many Chestermere residents would have no clue the town has already hit 17,000 people, he added.
Jennifer Peddlesden is against the status change, but not because she’s worried about the local charm. As head of the Chestermere Historical Foundation, she’s active in helping maintain the charm of the place she’s lived since before it was even a summer village.
To Peddlesden, Chestermere should work on becoming a “mighty town” instead of rushing to become a city.
“Maybe all of that quick growth has got us kind of chasing our tail with the city status,” she said.
“There isn’t public transport right now. We don’t even have sidewalks on all the main streets for people to even walk to where they’re going.”
She believes council is entering Monday’s debate with their minds set, but were wary of doing it without first asking the public.
To town officials, their month of engagement efforts show “the absence of any significant opposition,” a council report states. Absence was prominent at those events: four residents turned up to the first open house, eight at the next. A “tweet chat” on Twitter had one participant from outside local government.
“We don’t have a lot of people attend things like Twitter chats or open houses if they’re in agreement with the direction that we’re taking,” said Matthews, who attests to much support and understanding in less formal dialogue with residents.
Sigurdsen, one of many residents optimistic about what a new title may bring, pointed to what’s in Strathmore, the neighbouring town to the east that is now smaller.
“They’ve got a hospital. They’ve got a big aquatic centre. They have quite a bit more things than we have here,” she said.
Strathmore also considered becoming a city in 2011 and 2012, for many of the same reasons as Chestermere. Strathmore residents pushed to remain a town, and last year ousted the mayor who’d promoted the idea.
“And, to be honest with you, we had a lot of other issues on the table at the time I would have preferred we spend our energy on,” said Bob Sobol, a Strathmore town councillor.