Bowden's excellent location offers the small town benefits only minutes from the city and therefore, has become an appealing bedroom community of Alberta's closest cities. Lot prices, reasonable taxation and service costs offer an affordable quality of living standards often unattainable in larger cities.
A relatively new residential development, Destination Greens, offers 63 acres of prime development land strategically located adjacent to the golf course. This development will soon play a key role in Bowden's growth, and an attractive and balanced selection of single family homes are available in this exciting subdivision.
On occasion, the Town of Bowden has residential, commercial, or industrial lots for sale. To see a report on any of these listings, please check out our Business, Labour & Real Estate page.
LAND USE BYLAW
The Town of Bowden Land Use Bylaw requires that you obtain a Development Permit from the Town prior to commencing any development. There are a number of exceptions to this rule, such as small sheds and back and side fences under six feet in height, therefore, it is recommended you contact the Town office to confirm whether a Development Permit is required. To accept an application for development, the Town requires the following:
A completed application for development.
A scaled drawing indicating the proposed location of your development.
The required fee of either $20 for development valued up to $5,000 or $50 for development valued over $5,000
Typically, a decision on a Development Permit application can be made within seven days, however, if a proposed use is considered discretionary, a decision will be made by the Town’s Municipal Planning Commission and, depending on scheduling, could take up to thirty days. Once a decision has been made and, depending on the type of development, the applicant may be required to obtain a building permit, electrical permit, gas permit and plumbing permit. These permits are required by the Province of Alberta and the Town has no discretion in their requirement.
MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Along with Parkland Community Planning Services, Bowden Town Council developed and adopted a new Municipal Development Plan in June 2004. The goal of the MDP is to guide all future growth and development to ensure that it occurs in an appropriate manner, and is based on community desires and aspirations. This plan addresses issues such as future land uses, growth patterns, provision of services, recreational opportunities, and much more. It also serves as the basis for future discussions with Red Deer County in preparation of an Intermunicipal Development Plan. If you have any questions about Bowden's MDP, please contact Town Office.
INTERMUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Red Deer County and the Town of Bowden have been preparing an Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP). This plan deals with land in and around the Town of Bowden and will serve as a tool for coordinating future land uses and development between the two municipalities. For further information, contact Jordan Furness, Parkland Community Planning Services at 403-343-3394 or Christian Tinney at RDC, 403-357-2392.
AREA STRUCTURE PLANS
An Area Structure Plan guides future development in a given area of a community. Listed below is a list of those ASPs designed for areas in Bowden.
MUNICIPAL PLANNING COMMISSION
The Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) meets regularly to consider development applications made under the Town of Bowden's Land Use Bylaw, and to either approve, with or without conditions, or refuse such applications. The MPC is made up of members of Council and the public. The MPC advises Council with respect to achieving orderly, economical and beneficial development, use of land and patterns of human settlement, and to maintain and improve the quality of the physical environment within which the patterns of settlement are situated in the town.
MPC Minutes will be posted here upon acceptance. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these minutes.
