A land use re-designation public hearing on Nov. 1 was as muddled as any Rocky View County (RVC) has seen in recent years.
On the one side, landowner Barrett Gervan of Legacy at Elbow Valley Ltd. hoped council would overrule RVC staff's recommendation to refuse his land-use re-designation from Agriculture General District to Rural Residential for an 8.5-acre parcel located in the very corner of his land, about seven kilometres west of Calgary abutting Mountain River Estates.
On the other side, several members of the public – most associated with Mountain River Estates or nearby Elbow River Estates – were asking council to stand by their own staff’s recommendation to not approve the land-use change.
The objectors cited concerns about potential impacts on the nearby Elbow River, which runs through the quarter, that such a development might cause, as well as potential disruption of their natural views.
The land in question is used only for grazing agriculture at the moment, and is more or less an undeveloped natural area.
What complicated the case in this instance is that Gervan had originally sought to have the parcel subdivided as a first parcel out to build a residential site. Normally, a first parcel out is easier to get council's approval, as traditionally a homestead parcel is granted in these cases.
However, it was not truly a first parcel out, as it turns out. That was the first complication. Somehow, and nobody seemed to know how or why in the County’s records, Mountain River Estates was divided out of the quarter section and constructed in the 1970s – although, according to Gervan, it is unclear how that was accomplished at the time.
He at first felt since the Mountain River Estates subdivision was clouded in its origins, it might not count officially as a first parcel out. This interpretation was rejected by RVC’s Subdivision and Development Appeal Board last year.
Such is why Gervan had to return to RVC council for a public hearing on Nov. 1 to submit his most recent proposal. The land-use redesignation is the first step in the process of creating a new subdivision. After this is approved, the landowner can then submit a subdivision proposal with a detailed design plan attached for final approval from the County.
The second complication? Most of the quarter section is taken up by the Elbow River flood plain, with the area getting completely inundated in 2013.
Despite this potential problem being brought up by some members of the public who objected to his application, Gervan confirmed to council the parcel in question was actually one of the only areas of the property that is not located in the flood plain.
The third complication is that Gervan told councillors he would likely apply for a second residential subdivision if council granted his land-use redesignation request on Nov. 1.
It was at that point Div. 1 Coun. Kevin Hanson sought additional information from staff about what would happen if that second subdivision were to occur down the road in terms of road levies. He was promptly challenged on a point of order by Deputy Mayor (Div. 6) Sunny Samra and Div. 4 Coun. Samanntha Wright, who both felt asking staff to speculate on something that had not been granted yet to make a decision on the land use re-designation of today was out of scope of the public hearing.
Mayor Crystal Kissel granted both points of order.
Hanson then put forward a compromise motion, which would allow the single parcel to be redesignated as Rural Residental under the condition Gervan would have to provide a detailed PSTS (private sewage treatment system) design at the time of submitting his subdivision proposal for approval. As a condition of that potential future subdivision, the owner would be required to enter into an Access Easement Agreement and provide an Access Right-of-Way plan to provide legal access to both the proposed residential parcel and the remainder.
The motion passed unanimously 6-0 with Div. 7 Coun. Al Schule absent from the meeting.
