Rocky View County (RVC) council gave final reading to a bylaw to close a portion of an undeveloped road allowance at its May 26 meeting, but the applicant will not be able to purchase the land until after administration has reviewed the file and presented it back to council at its meeting on June 9.
According to RVC administration, the applicant hopes to consolidate the undeveloped portion of Township Road 270 into their property to build a small shop next to their house. As Wild Cat Hill Road extends to the east and Beaupre Creek Road extends to the west, there is “no need” to retain this portion of the road allowance, according to the administration report.
A public hearing was held on the item in June 2013, where the bylaw received first reading before it was sent to Alberta Transportation for ministerial consent as required by the Municipal Government Act. That approval was received March 24, 2014, however second and third readings were delayed due to a disagreement between administration and the applicant over the appraisal price.
According to administration, an “internal review” was conducted and the value was adjusted from $37,500 per acre to $33,500 per acre, equating to a purchase price of $25,000 for the .75-acre portion.
“We actually had an external consultant who is a certified appraiser do an appraisal on the property, which was the first value of $37,500 per acre. At that point the applicant refuted that to some extent, so we had our assessment department internally review it, and that is the revised value,” said Ted Boyda, chief assessor with RVC. “Administration is satisfied with the recommendation of this report.”
The recommendation was for council to proceed with a motion following third reading, permitting the sale of the property to the applicant for $25,000 plus the appraisal fee of $650, within one year of the bylaw receiving third reading.
However, area Councillor Bruce Kendall raised some concerns.
“I believe the applicant did speak with engineering about discrepancies he saw in the appraisal,” Kendall said. “He was given an appraisal done by the same appraiser from the property across the road, and there is a significant difference in values and in the determination of value. Both properties are zoned ranch and farm, but the adjacent property was $25,000 for more than five acres of land.”
Kendall moved to have administration’s recommended motion to approve the sale deferred until the County’s General Manager of Corporate Services, Kent Robinson, can review the file and bring it back to council at their next meeting June 9.
Despite opposition from Reeve Margaret Bahcheli and Deputy Reeve Lois Habberfield, the motion was carried 7-2.
