It was standing room only at yesterday's public hearing for rezoning of the northwest part of the Highwood Ranch in High River. One of the biggest concerns is the inclusion of high-density housing.

Kristi Beunder, planning consultant for the land-owners, says she was caught of guard by the amount of people opposed to the changes.

"I think the concern here is that we introduced high-density, but what we were trying to do is introduce a process of review on those higher-density types of housing forms. Now, this is not a high-rise tower. It is a four-story maximum because we are only allowed fourteen meters, so four or five story maximum."

She says the goal here was to allow for mixed uses of the land and more affordable housing in High River.

"The built form can vary under that context, so it can be a block building, a bar building, or what we're trying to accomplish which is a townhouse, which is greater than six. So this is eight-plex, ten-plex."

Beunder explains that rezoning is not meant to be a departure from the philpsophies of the area structure plan.  She says they want to realign the land use plan to incorporate higher-density complexes.

"What we're feeling is that in a small town like this you need a level of affordability in order to survive, and we're trying to just mix those uses as best we can. That's where the philosophy behind the land use changes came from, and I think they were not well-understood."

Other concerns include the conversion of Longview Trail and moving the storm water pond.