The Town of Okotoks has made a decision on the future of downtown following Monday's council meeting.

The Landmark site on 34 & 38 McRae Street has been re-designated from a Central Business Commercial District to a Direct Control District.

Okotoks Town Councillor Carrie Fischer

Okotoks Town Councillor Carrie Fischer says it's a step in the right direction to bring more businesses like restaurants and establishments into downtown.

"Given that, we've got this surplus land that we were contemplating what to do with. So one of the things that came out was putting it under direct control to limit what can actually develop on it, and then achieve some of the goals coming out of the downtown plan."

Fischer says the plan to move the Landmark site to direct control is all part of their initial process to transform downtown through the Roger Brooks branding initiative back in 2014.

The next step for the Town is put the land on the map for potential businesses to set-up shop.

"Now that it's under direct control we can put it on the market and we can really limit the businesses that can go in that," she says. "Before we put it under direct control it could have been more office space, it could have been all of these different uses that didn't necessarily achieve the public destination portion of what we're trying to do."

Fischer says there's still some issues with closing streets for the eventual development of the Landmark Site but in meantime says the change to direct control is the first step in a process to add some flair to area.

"We can really start to achieve some of the targets set out in the Roger Brooks reports on revitalizing downtown and making sure that there's businesses coming downtown that align with the people and the vitality that we want to see."

The Town has had a couple of inquiries into the site, but nothing has been formal yet due to the re-designation decision.

Questions, comments, or story ideas? Email us at news@okotoksonline.com