Airdrie finally has a new Land Use Bylaw (LUB), after City council approved the latest draft at its June 6 meeting.
“In my mind, it’s a bit of a starting point,” Mayor Peter Brown said. “The intent of the document is to make certain that the people who live here are getting the best bang for their buck, that the rules are acceptable, that they can live within those rules, that we’re making it easier for people to do business in our community.”
Airdrie’s original LUB was drafted in 2005.
Stephen Utz and William Czaban from the City’s planning department presented council with the revised LUB as a result of a public hearing held May 2.
That public hearing was reopened June 6 to allow the public to respond to those changes.
Czaban said the work of drafting the LUB and consultations has taken about four years.
One area of the LUB that was revised prior to the June 6 meeting was the section dealing with properties within the area annexed to Airdrie in 2012. These areas have previously come under the jurisdiction of Rocky View County (RVC) and its LUB.
“Our goal through the project with the annexed area was first and foremost that we weren’t out to change any fundamental land use rights or what a person is able or allowed to do on their land,” Czaban said.
“There was a lot of work that went into making sure that was captured under this bylaw in as accurate a way as we could.”
Czaban said while some minute details may differ between the Airdrie LUB and the RVC LUB, “There’s effectively no legal impact on the land in the annexed area.”
Prior to reopening the public hearing June 6, council voted to sever four subsections of the LUB from the discussion. The request to sever these sections, which deal with temporary and wayfinding signage, was made by Councillor Candice Kolson.
Kolson said she made the request because as the organizer of the Airdrie Farmers’ Market she has a pecuniary interest and could be seen to be in conflict of interest if she was to vote on or speak as a member of council on those particular sections. Kolson also recused herself from this discussion at the May 2 meeting.
One Airdrie rural resident, Charlene Maines, said during public question period held prior to the public hearing, she believed Kolson should have recused herself before any discussion of the LUB was begun.
“That did not happen, prior to the motion by Councillor Burley to sever those sections. (Kolson) did not declare pecuniary interest on (subsection) 5.5 or 5.6 prior to severing of it and she also broke it to sever those sections without declaring pecuniary interest,” Maines said.
Maines said she believed this was contrary to the Municipal Government Act and Kolson had disqualified herself as a councillor and should resign.
Brown said he did not agree with Maines’ assertions and he had “absolutely no concern whatsoever with how the meeting was adjudicated, the procedures that took place.”
“We reviewed it intently prior to the meeting. Councillor Kolson declared her pecuniary interest, left the council and made no decisions as it relates to signage. As far as I’m concerned, the matter is closed,” he said.
Council approved the changes to these sections of the LUB, including adding regulations about limited use signage – signage put up for special events which can be left up for a maximum of four consecutive days.
“I’m comfortable in knowing this document will and can always be amended,” Brown said. “We can change it and amend it for everyone.”
