Skip to content

Second public hearing set for proposed land use bylaw

JULIE BERTRAND

Independent Reporter

The county will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, March 9, at 1 p.m. at the county office regarding its proposed land use bylaw.

This bylaw will regulate the subdivision, zoning, use and development of land in the county and establish the authorities required to exercise the related powers, functions and duties on behalf of the county.

“You will not see much change. Most of the standards and regulations in the new bylaw are being adopted directly off of the old bylaw,” said Johan van der Bank, director of planning and development for the county of Stettler.

Since the land use bylaw was unveiled to the public on July 22, 2010, the county has fielded many calls and received two letters from concerned ratepayers.

However, van der Bank was able to resolve the ratepayers’ issues for the most part.

“The new bylaw does not include anything that we were not able to do under the old bylaw,” said van der Bank.

“The big difference was that the old bylaw required a farm permit for agricultural operations. The new bylaw does not.”

The rest of the changes in the new bylaw consisted of expanding some items to include more details.

“We’re basically making the bylaw a little bit more up to the current standards for bylaws in Alberta,“ said van der Bank.

It is the county’s intention with the new bylaw to provide for all the different development areas contained in it.

Moreover, the county wanted to make sure that its development regulations were compatible with the town of Stettler’s regulations.

“The philosophy of the new bylaw is that it has to cover a range of development styles and sophistications. That’s why our bylaw was set up,” said van der Bank.

Ratepayers should not fear the new regulations, since the county will exercise its discretion in how it applies them, according to van der Bank.