Land rezoning passed without objection from County residents

By Heather Cameron
Southern Alberta Newspapers
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Hilary Janzen from Administration came before Council on Dec. 21 and stated that an application has been submitted on behalf of Trans Mark to re-designate a parcel of land (portion of Southeast 27-7-20-W4), from rural agriculture to rural general industrial. The intent of the application, Janzen said, is to allow for the development of this parcel for industrial purposes, specifically rail-related purposes. 

The area in question, Janzen said, has been identified within the County’s industrial commercial land use strategy as an area for future industrial growth. Janzen stated that the application was circulated to all external agencies for review, including Triple W Gas, Co-Op, ATCO, TELUS, SMRID, and Alberta Transportation, and no objections or concerns were received. With regards to the Planning and Development department, Janzen said, Administration did complete their review of the proposed re-designation and determined that the proposed rezoning does conform to the policies of the County’s Municipal Development Plan, specifically Policy 10, as an area that has been designated for commercial and light industrial uses within the Industrial/Commercial Land Use Strategy, Policy 10.3. Janzen stated that it also adheres to that particular policy and that the re-designation will allow for a range of industrial developments within the development area and Policy 10.10, in that the proposal will support the agricultural community and producers and is non-labour intensive. 

In terms of how Lethbridge County identified industrial commercial areas in this particular area, Janzen said, this bylaw was advertised and also mailed to the adjacent landowners for their review and comment, and at the time of writing of the report, there was no submissions with regards to this particular application. However, Janzen said, there was a letter from a landowner directly to the east of the development off of Township Road 7-4 and they expressed some concerns of what had happened in the past with regards to the development on this property, but they weren’t going to contest the particular rezoning as it stood. 

The Council then opened the opportunity for the public to speak, but there was no public input. Deputy Reeve John Kuerbis moved to close the public hearing and that motion was approved. After the public hearing was declared closed, Deputy Reeve Kuerbis then moved that Bylaw 23-025 Land Use Bylaw Amendment be read for a first and second time. Those motions were approved. Councillor Lorne Hickey then moved that Bylaw 23-025 Land Use Bylaw Amendment be read for a third time and that motion was carried, passing the bylaw. 

Councillor Sayers also wanted to make a point of recognizing that Council did receive a letter from the landowner they mentioned earlier in the discussion, and they did appreciate the concerns and recognize them as valid.