CALGARY - A high-density, environmentally sustainable community has been given the nod by the Municipal Government Board of Alberta despite the consternation of councillors in the nearby town of Okotoks.

TV celebrity Mike Holmes’ Wind Walk project was deemed to be no hardship for the bedroom community.

Okotoks objected to the suburb because it was too dense and would present challenges for traffic, water and amenities.

Wind Walk was proposed in 2008 and approved by the Municipal District of Foothills. Members of the Okotoks council fought the plan as they felt the project violated a joint planning agreement.

The board sided against Okotoks’ case earlier this week.

“We haven’t had the chance to read (the decision) yet,” said Mayor Bill Robertson. “Council will be reviewing it as a group, then we will create a go-forward strategy.”

Wind Walk still has to overcome a few more hurdles, including a water-use agreement.

However, Seth Atkins, the director of Holmes Homes, is optimistic the community will come to be.

“It’s been our position all along that we are providing a win-win situation for the region,” he said.

Wind Walk boasts it would be a unique community, devoted to recycling water, solar panel energy and walkable communities.

Atkins said the developer understood that creating the suburb would be ambitious.

“We understand that doing something at that level, it requires a lot of education, a lot of hard work.”

But Ray Watrin, a first-term councillor in Okotoks, feels the project is taking advantage of the small town south of Calgary.

“We have an ideal situation, you know,” he said. “It feels sometime like they’ve taken advantage of what we’ve built here. . . . People want to live in this location.”

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