Town of Stettler has resolved to protect the integrity of its Inter-municipal Development Plan (IDP) agreed last year with the County of Stettler, even at the expense of pursuing a costly legal avenue.
At their regular meeting on July 20, councilors discussed a letter from Johan van der Bank, development officer for the County of Stettler informing the town council on the process of rezoning the area which investor James Nibourg would like to have rezoned to establish his auto recycling business.
The town council agreed at the end of their discussion that every avenue allowed by the IDP would be used to stop the rezoning of the area, which is adjacent to the line mapped as development area under the IDP.
James Nibourg, who wants to establish his business at a location with railway access, said unless he was allowed to use that property, he would have to take his investment to another community.
“I can go to Rimbey or Lacombe, “ Nibourg said.
He added that the town had offered an alternative sight but that it would cost $625,000.
Stettler town manager Rob Stoutenberg confirmed that Nibourg was offered an alternative site but he said things had never gone far enough to sit down and calculate the price of the property.
The impasse results from concerns expressed by the Town of Stettler that allowing rezoning the said property could pave the way for “leapfrogging”, meaning development may be disorderly with lots of empty spaces being left in the course of development expansion.
Van der Bank says he can not see why the area is seen as so isolated.
“It is adjacent to the agreed development area. If the plot next to it can be serviced, there is no reason why this one can not be serviced,” van der Bank said.
When Nibourg first presented his idea to the Stettler town council in their March 16 meeting, three town councilors had voted in favor of the project.
Stettler county councilor Wayne Nixon, who supports the project, said he believed it would be good for the area to host another business at a time when both the county and the town are losing significant tax income due to the slowdown in oil and gas businesses.