Alberta's fastest-growing southern city outside of Calgary should have far more land to build on come 2012.
That's when the City of Airdrie expects to formally annex more than 12,600 acres of land under a deal reached with surrounding Rocky View County. Both municipal councils approved the deal in late spring. The province's Municipal Government Board will consider the proposal once it is formally submitted.
The deal will allow Airdrie, which straddles Alberta's busiest highway, more land to grow commercially, industrially and residentially.
The city's population hit 39,822 in 2010, more than double what it was in 2000. Its annual rate of growth slowed to 4.54 per cent last year, but had been running at more than 8 per cent in each of the three previous years.
The deal covers land to the west, north and east of Airdrie's city limits. It will not expand the city to the south, where Rocky View's assessment base is supported by the massive Cross Iron Mills shopping complex and industrial and commercial development nearby.
Airdrie is located 10 minutes north of Calgary on Highway 2.
from Western Investor August 2011
