Those who sign this petition are De Winton residents, families, and neighbors against "Yellow House Studio Ltd. - SW 36-21-01 W5M - Proposed Redesignation from Agricultural District to Country Residential" Link to Redesignation Application and Developement Plan
--------------
By signing this petition you are helping protect the residents of the DeWinton Hamlet past and present, with the scarcity of available resources including water, and protect our depleting and scare heritage sites in Alberta.

Sign this petition to stand up for with the human right to water, and the country lifestyle at jeopardy, and the loss of property value for our classic Hamlet in De Winton. And an invaluable unique in the world piece of history.
If you agree that it is wrong to break unbroken land, and take away a historically significant site from the landscape of Alberta. This parcel has been loved and protected for generations, and has become part of the local culture.

 A dense development plan for twelve properties with a proposed redesignation from Agricultural District to Country Residential has been submitted and is being reviewed by the MD of Foothills. The first public hearing is on April 13th 1:30

This would be planted right on our Historic Old McLeod Trail, the unbroken Alberta soil and cover up our links to the past irrevocably, on newly dubbed "Well Water Hill" of the Old hamlet on McLeod Trail. The Location between the twin grain elevators and the  Old McLeod Trail markers installed by Bill Dunn and the Museum of Highwood to mark the trail on the hill below  

 Currently the Historic Landmarks, our visual beauty and important agricultural resources especially the water supply to the MacLeod Trail hamlet is in peril.

We live out here for the country lifestyle, for the simple natural beauty of the foothills the scenic drive and countryside look of the place time forgot: Behind our iconic grain towers, behind our CP rail line ,and underneath the historic "Old MacLeod Trail" Heritage walk on 258th Ave W all natural hillside classically dotted and grazing cows. That entire area is under threat. 
If Yellow House Studio Ltd proposal goes through this will dramatically effect the property values, resource and water availability and quality of life for the residents in the lower historic hamlet as well as the culture of the surrounding residents. Many Surrounding residents homes have views of many are pointed toward the old west iconography surrounding and will take out our historically significant longest segment of the original MacLeod Trail that is within the field. This is a Canadian rarity, one of the last little old towns, thanks to this one parcel preserving heritage and the aesthetic of the hidden in a valley of forgotten time ties us to our roots.

Our Community Center, our escape to the country culture and feeling, will stand under a fence of houses, their lights, their noise. The old hamlet neighborhood features some of our oldest homes, our most community engaged and involved residents, our Community Center, and our photogenic public lookout, our popular landmarks and iconography. Treasured by history buffs, photographers, bird watchers and all passers by. Excellent stargazing opportunities under the foothills dark sky jurisdiction. Excellent city views for photo ops day and night from the lookout. You can see the original McLeod Trail cart line sprawling over the hill like a web. Not only now but historically, wedding photos in the area are of the hillside, the charm should be a tourist attraction, celebrated and enjoyed like it once was you do not have to look too far back, and absolutely could be again. This would be privatized. And the historic area cemented over.

The human rights emergency to residents in the area of the proposed redevelopment is that wells of the lower hamlet are shallow and low production due to the historic nature of the homes. Some residents get less then 1 igpm. With dramatic decreases in production due to environmental factors many across foothills county have also noticed over the past few years. If their wells are affected by the rezoning and construction activities they have no recourse available to them later. With water quality being so poor for residents below "Well Water Hill" seepage from 12 full size family homes will effect, pollute and devalue the earth, biomass and water for the residents below.
We have to account for the water usage of twelve large four person family homes , at roughly 28,000 liters of water each month, That would take give or take 336,000 liters a month away from our local wetlands and available ground water. And NOT just the deep modern well supplying it to the main house, but also the possibility an accessory building having water usage that could also draw potentially even more, and a second and accessory well can be built too. Climate change is real , water is getting harder to come by, and still it runs downhill, catches at the top and goes through down the slope. Many residents wells are poor and not many people are expecting improvements with dryer seasons and more erratic weather that is occurring globally, and undeniably. Even if passable theoretical tests are concocted, they will not be sustainable or reflective of planning for the resiliency and safety of current and new residents in the face of dryer and more dramatic climate change factors. If the state is bad, we should be looking at regenerative and way to correct the current problems, not put them at jeopardy with "good enough to pass circa 2022" strains on our aquifers and natural water systems.
Even if a magic solution; to the water scarcity and climate change were addressed, and other resource scarcity issues twelve new homes in a dense area would case, If said magic solution could be produced: this would not solve the impact on property value for historic McLeod Trail Hamlet. Instead of their countryscape view they would be fenced in by new modern homes backyards. There would be socio economic duress in the lower hamlet community that stands so far shoulder to shoulder and take us into a weird class system structure and other city problems like largely increased traffic, light pollution, and toxin run off pollution.
Gentrification of neighborhoods is a city thing. Where everyone has access to the same resources. This takes value from all residents, in culture, resources, ecology, environment, sustainability and values. This will harm the investments, quality of life and agricultural and business dreams of our Hamlet residents. 
It will irrevocably tear down our most rare historic treasure (other then or senior residents in De Winton, many of whom live below the Well Water Hill in question) You can look on the hill side and see where our for-bearers passed originally. The lookout over this web of unbroken, actual trail in the parcel sports the start and the end of the longest unbroken run of trail, a tourist and photographer frequented adventure at our Old MacLeod Trail marker that was incredible in itself as a historic project to complete. The lookout is of immense community cultural value. A representation to residence of looking forward over the wagon wheels, over the tracks on the hillside, to the grain towers before the standing hamlet, and on and over into the city, it is like seeing the entire path of progress of Alberta all at once. This breathtaking view frequented by photographers and history buffs alike will be privatized and the actual land the trail, erratic rock fragments and other buried history will be coated with the silt and cement of construction.

Please remember, This is not against subdivision as a principle. This is to protect our Heritage the hamlet and surrounding homes, the communities most effected by scarcity of resources, quality of life and home equity loss this would cause: our Well Water Hill site with the original McLeod Trail and so many other historic oddities, including that its raw, real Alberta undeveloped earth and our iconography. To have the opportunity to one day see the real value in this place, as community splendor or future attraction. If this is preserved it will be of the most rare and valuable things in the future to all Albertons and De Winton residents after us, and hopefully long after them. Ghosts of the past have to trust the people of the present. This place  was the gift of De Winton residents and heritage preservation efforts generations past.

More info here Council Link to Proposal

Sign and share this petition via " https://www.change.org/savedewinton " To help help save the dreams of our fore-bearers, generations of southern Alberta and De Winton residents, the hard work of preservation societies, museums and historians for all recorded history until now, and the one unique piece of raw Alberta landscape in DeWinton.
I encourage you to talk with your trusted professionals, historians, real estate agents and water specialists as many of us have been in the lower hamlet to verify these facts. But we have a very limited time to bring this before council.
 If we loose, we lose our countryside and live below the new row of homes. If he loose we loose heritage history irreplaceable. If we loose we loose our cultural iconography and country lifestyle. If we loose, we loose a huge part of what makes De Winton, De Winton.

--------------------------------
This is De Winton residents, families and neighbors against: "Yellow House Studio Ltd. - SW 36-21-01 W5M - Proposed Redesignation from Agricultural District to Country Residential"