Bragg Creek residents who live along the Elbow River say they left a Rocky View County open house regarding riparian policy and proposed new development setbacks with more questions than answers.
Rocky View County (RVC) Senior Planner Richard Barss hosted a riparian policy open house in Bragg Creek on Oct. 9 to inform residents about the County’s proposed land use bylaw to protect riparian areas (land adjacent to streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands where vegetation and soils are strongly influenced by water) by implementing county-wide development setbacks from these bodies of water.
Barss said the purpose of the Bragg Creek session, the last of five held across the county from Oct. 2 to 9, was to seek input from and educate residents about the benefits of protecting waterways, and the lands and properties that border them.
“Implementation of these new measures will bring economic, health and environmental benefits to the county’s residents, such as protecting properties adjacent to water bodies by reducing erosion and flooding, and maintaining or improving water quality.”
These setbacks will affect landowners’ buildings including homes, barns, garages, as well as septic fields, water wells, and stormwater ponds.
Based on provincial guidelines and determined by soil type, Barss said the setbacks, measured from the stream’s centre will be 30 metres if the soil is glacial till and 60 metres if the soil is alluvial sediments.
Exceptions will exist along the Elbow and Bow rivers, and Bragg Creek, where the same setbacks will be measured from the bank’s edge and a development permit will be required.
RVC’s Greater Bragg Creek Area Structure Plan (GBCASP) bylaw came into effect in 2007 and restricts and regulates development through riparian zone buffers.
The buffer for all streams, tributaries and wetlands is 30 metres measured from the high water mark.
Within the hamlet, the buffer is 50 metres along the Elbow River and 30 metres for Bragg Creek extending beyond the floodway.
Barss said for properties located in floodways, where flood mapping exists, the setback will be the riparian setback or the floodway – whichever is greater.
Bragg Creek resident Linda Thompson lives along the Elbow River on River Drive South and said if this new policy is enforced the riparian areas would encompass her entire lot.
“We respect the value of riparian rights but we also don’t want to them to claim more and more of our property,” said Thompson.
Thompson said she was concerned about the potential restrictions placed on her property and how those restrictions will affect the resale value of their home.
“We still feel fairly confused about the future of our property and what we can do with it,” she said.
“They didn’t really have firm answers.”
Barss said if residents’ homes are located in the riparian zone and they want to renovate in the future, they could build sideways or back.
Thompson said she plans to meet with Barss to learn about her options and to make an informed decision about the future.
“We need to know if we have some financial security,” she said
“We’re hoping we can stay as long as we can still build.”
West Bragg Creek resident Eric Lloyd said he worked on the GBCASP over a decade ago to ensure the County implemented watershed management to protect water quality and aquatic ecosystems.
“It is critical that the proposed County riparian policy be adopted as bylaw because development setbacks will reduce the impacts of future floods through erosion control and mitigation,” he said.
“It will reduce flood impacts to have a widespread riparian policy that is followed and enforced.”
The 25 Greater Bragg Creek area residents who attended the open house were also concerned about the County’s reliance on 1995 provincial flood maps, which they consider outdated, and the cooperation between the municipal, provincial and federal governments in regards to to flood mitigation.
Barss said the County has to work off of existing flood maps, but they understand residents who live on the Elbow River have specific concerns about how the proposed bylaw could affect their properties.
“It is very understandable the concerns out here are about flood protection,” he said. “My sense is people are OK with the principal, but they have expressed concerns with some of the details.”
According to Barss, the options for Bragg Creek are to provide a special land use district for the GBCASP or adopt the county-wide provision and amend the GBASP.
Barss said the County’s next step is to draft the bylaw and present it to council during the first quarter of 2014.
“If, in drafting the bylaw, it departs significantly from what we discussed with the public we will probably go out to meet with the public (again),” said Barss.
“We will also contact all participants who left contact information so that they are aware of when the bylaw is ready and provide them with an explanation and the opportunity to view it.”
