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County council agrees area structure plans necessary

Alder Flats resident requests waiver of area structure plan
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An Alder Flats resident’s request to have an area structure plan waived by County of Wetaskiwin council was denied at the regular Planning and Economic Development meeting May 17.

The issue was presented to councilors by director of Public Works David Blades.

“On April 29, 2019, Administration received email correspondence from Ms. Elaine Goldade requesting that Council waive Policy 61.1.6 and allow her to move forward with a waiver of the Area Structure Plan requirement for the property located described as Lot 1, Block 1, Plan 0824350, SW 4-46-7-W5M within the Hamlet of Alder Flats,” stated the agenda memo.

The letter, from Elaine Goldade, read:

“My name is Elaine Goldade and I am a property owner in Alder Flats. I purchased the property at #307 4th Street West (5-7-46-4SW) in 2009, it is a 1.33 acre property.

“At the time of purchases it had a mobile home on the southwest corner of the property. I removed the trailer and built a home on the east side of the property. I would like to downsize my living arrangements and would like to subdivide the property and place another home where the original mobile was. I would request that the county waive the Area Structure Plan requirement.

“Before submitting my waiver application, I had a phone consultation with Jason from West Central Planning on what I was wanting to do. Jason encouraged me to ask for a waiver of the Area Structure Plan requirement and thought that it may be granted due to the nature of the subdivision and the location in Alder Flats.

“The current 1.33 acres would be subdivided into 2 lots. The first lot would be approximately 0.83 acres and is the east portion of the original lot I will refer to as the existing home/lot. The second lot will be approximately 0.5 acres and I will refer to it as the proposed lot.

“The proposed lot has all utilities, including sewer, gas and electricity already in place. I would drill a new water well to supply the proposed lot. At this time the only change will be the need to have a new access into the proposed lot off of the county road as the existing lot will retain the current driveway and access.”

Councilor Kathy Rooyakkers stated that the number of lots in an application often influences what the ASP looks like.

CAO Rod Hawken reminded councilors that the ASP contains the only official avenue for public consultation, and if waived, the public has no way to officially comment on an application.

Blades also noted in his memo, “Also, Administration notes that depending on the proposal, not all Area Structure Plans need significant studies and reports to justify the proposal for subdivision. In cases where proposals result in one (1) or two (2) lots, generally proof of water supply, adjacent landowner consultation, access to the properties in question, and intended land use will help to satisfy the requirements related to an Area Structure Plan Application.”

Councilors eventually decided by a 4 to 3 vote to remove the fee related to Waiver of Area Structure Plan Applications and advise individuals that Council will not entertain any requests to go outside of Requirements for an Area Structure Plan Policy 61.1.6, meaning that all individuals would be required to complete an Area Structure Plan Application, albeit in varying detail dependent on the nature of the Application.

Stu.salkeld@pipestoneflyer.ca