By Jessica Jones
For the Independent
The Provincial Court of Appeal will not hear Paradise Shores’ arguments, siding with a decision made by Stettler County’s development appeal board that orders the developer to reduce the density of stalls at the RV park.
The July 12th decision denied the developer permission to appeal the reduction of RV stalls along the shores of Buffalo Lake.
The decision sides with the County of Stettler and the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board (SDAB), which decided on Nov 2nd, 2018 to stick to paring down the density of the Paradise Shores RV stalls from 370 to 168.
“We trust in this process and the Municipal Government Act provides us with this process, but we are looking forward to working with everyone involved going forward,” said County of Settler Director of Communications Niki Thorsteinsson.
The Court of Appeal judgment was reserved since January. Until July 12th it was unknown how long it was going to take to hear arguments on the SDAB’s ruling.
“It was quite a long time for everyone to wait,” admitted Thorsteinsson.”But we will continue to be in discussions to see as to how we can help the developer move forward.”
The dismissal means that the Paradise Shores appeal will not go to a tribunal.
A lengthy document from the Court of Appeal of Alberta, which was emailed to several of the applicants on July 12th, stated many reasons behind Honourable Justice Brian O’Ferrell’s decision.
“With respect, I had difficulty understanding the applicant’s first argument,” it was stated in the document.
It concluded that, “None of the grounds of appeal advanced by the applicant has a reasonable chance of success … the SDAB’s interpretations appear to be correct. They are certainly reasonable. The application to appeal is dismissed.”
What happens now is up to Paradise Shores, said Thorsteinsson. Paradise Shores is still permitted to work on 168 sites but is tied to the 41 conditions set by the County of Stettler.
The decision is yet another roadblock for Paradise Shores after health and safety concerns at existing leases were revealed earlier in May. Lease holders were required to move their trailers before June 17th.
At last glance the only trailers that were on site were those that were difficult to move, Thorsteinsson said, noting that they recently observed Paradise Shores trying to clean up the area.
“Once those conditions are completed those sites can be occupied,” she said. “Once we get compliance we can get people up there.”
Calls made to Paradise Shores’s lawyer, Robert Schuett, were unreturned prior to online posting deadline.