The City of Red Deer will officially expand its borders by 7,410 acres after Premier Ed Stelmach’s cabinet recently approved an application to annex Red Deer County land.
The government approval is retroactive to Sept. 1, 2009.
More housing, commercial and industrial development will come to town with this first phase of annexation. Previously, industrial land was annexed in 2007.
City manager Craig Curtis said the additional land will meet the demands for development in the city’s north and east regions.
“Even in these difficult economic times, our population and development permit numbers continue to rise,” said Curtis.
The city has been preparing for months for annexation with the hiring of additional staff.
The new land will take in about 247 acres south of the Red Deer River and east of Hwy 2, just over 3,200 acres along the north side of Red Deer, and more than 3,900 acres along the city’s east side.
“This will double the size of the city and allow for a population of three times,” Mayor Morris Flewwelling said.