An open house hosted at Rocky View County’s (RVC) municipal office July 28 gave residents an opportunity to learn more about proposed changes to the Transportation Off-Site Levy bylaw, which will be presented to council later this year.
This bylaw is in place to fund improvements to the County’s regional transportation network to offset the impact of development. Generally, the levy applies to any subdivision or development occurring within the County after the date of bylaw approval – including residential, commercial, industrial or institutional uses.
Currently, the County is undertaking its biannual review of the bylaw, and in addition to the regular updates to reflect current construction costs for road improvement projects throughout RVC, some additional changes are being considered for adoption.
“Council requested a look at the bylaw to ensure it reflected the County Plan’s direction on future growth,” said RVC Communications Manager Grant Kaiser. “In the end, we are seeking a fair and transparent levy system that helps build the infrastructure we will need.”
Approximately 60 people attended the open house, which Kaiser said was a strong turnout.
“This open house provided the public with an opportunity to talk with staff and ask any questions they have,” he said. “Once we’ve reviewed all of the feedback received at the end of August, we’ll go back to the public again with the results.”
According to Kaiser, the updated bylaw will reflect many “minor” changes, but the most significant one relates to growth areas. Kaiser said if council decides to pursue the proposed change, it will result in higher levy costs if landowners go through the development process in those areas.
A document released by RVC, which is available at rockyview.ca, said the proposed change will “reflect the reality that the entirety of the county will not be developed.”
This results in a reduction in the number of developable acres the costs of road improvement are allocated to, leading to an increase from a cost per acre basis.
“We are hoping to get an updated draft bylaw to Council by December, but the timeline will be adjusted based on public feedback,” Kaiser said. “We’ll know more about that feedback after August.”
Feedback will be received until Sept. 1, and can be submitted to Angela Pare with RVC’s engineering services at [email protected]. More information about the levy and the proposed changes can be found in the “Bylaws Under Review” section of the Government tab at rockyview.ca
