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Foothills Tourism Association investigating agritourism opportunities

Foothills County has agreed to extend public consultation on its land-use bylaw amendments and reschedule the public hearing for June 2 in light of research being completed in May.
Open Farm Days 2020 KC (9)
Bjorn Bonjean, right, sells Spirit Hills wine to visitor Phil Clark during Alberta Open Farm Days in August. The Foothills Tourism Association is conducting research on accommodating more agritourism opportunities in Foothills County. (Krista Conrad/Western Wheel)

Public consultation on the County’s land-use bylaw has been extended following a request from the Foothills Tourism Association.

The association submitted an open letter to Foothills County on April 2 asking that the public hearing for proposed changes to the land-use bylaw be moved from April to the end of May to align with agritourism research currently being undertaken by the Culinary Tourism Alliance.

Foothills Tourism Association received a grant for $81,000 to complete the research on how agricultural tourism such as farm-to-table and market activities could be better accommodated in the region. It includes interviews with people in the industry, an inventory of agricultural tourism assets, market research and business case studies.

“That project needs to be finished by the end of May, which is why we asked for an extension because the County is looking at making changes to the bylaws that affect businesses and farms in the community,” said Hugo Bonjean, president of Foothills Tourism Alliance.

He said market research conducted last year indicated agritourism is valued in Alberta by people across the province, primarily those who live in the Calgary region.

“Concentrating our efforts for developing the economy in Foothills and growing the economy in Foothills, our local markets, makes more sense certainly if Albertans or Calgarians have indicated they really have an interest in this,” said Bonjean.

It’s important the research results are taken into account as the County reviews and amends its land-use bylaw, he said. There is potential for some changes that could help facilitate more agricultural tourism activity.

“We hope that following the research there will be bylaw amendments that could remove any of the barriers identified by the research so that economic development specifically for agritourism in the region could actually take place,” said Bonjean. “In a very distressed economy I think the most important thing at this point is to remove any barriers for economic development that can take place.”

He said the County was quick to respond to the request from Foothills Tourism Alliance and the public hearing was rescheduled to June 2, with public consultation occurring through May.

Heather Hemingway, director of planning for Foothills County, said the municipality was pleased to provide the extension and there were no concerns in doing so.

The goal is to have any amendment in place by the fall, she said.

“So to delay it does not change that schedule,” said Hemingway. “We’re happy to accommodate a request to hold off on the public hearing as long as we can still maintain that idea of being able to move forward on at least some of the amendments by the fall.”

She said the land-use bylaw is reviewed on a regular basis and is a document that is constantly evolving.

There have been minor adjustments to the bylaw made along the way, and occasionally more major amendments are made, she said.

This review includes a variety of proposed changes from slight administrative items to significant differences, she said.

“It runs the gamut,” said Hemingway, adding council began looking at the bylaw in December and decided spring was the right time to engage with residents.

Bonjean said he appreciates the extension of the consultation period and believes it will results in bylaw amendments that will serve the community well, rooted in solid research.

There is currently a call out to anybody in the Foothills region who has an interest in developing agritourism or farm-to-table opportunities, he said.

“Anybody who is interested in that, or anybody who has tried in the last five years to enter into that field, we would love to hear from,” said Bonjean.

Those parties are asked to email [email protected], and they will be connected with the research team at the Culinary Tourism Alliance.

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