Crossfield resident Mike Perry came to the council meeting on Sept. 10 to discuss his concern with how the Town was addressing complaints about two Sunset Ridge residences.
“In summary, I have concerns about the bylaws not being enforced in the Sunset Ridge area,” he told council after outlining his observations of the properties in question.
Perry said he has issued complaints about one neighbour, who he said has litter, automotive equipment and weeds in their yard.
Perry said he is concerned because what he deems unacceptable and what Peace Officer Dan Luft deems unacceptable seem to be different.
Luft, who also attended the meeting, said he had been to the property on several occasions and issued warnings to the residents, who are renters.
After the first verbal warning to the tenants, Luft claims he issued written warnings to the homeowner when he could not speak with the residents.
He said in each instance, the issue outlined in the complaint was dealt with.
However, Perry said when one issue gets cleared up and another one occurs.
“It just doesn’t fit into the neighbourhood,” Perry said.
Councillor James Ginter questioned why, instead of issuing subsequent warnings after receiving multiple complaints on the property, a ticket couldn’t be issued.
Luft explained he could issue a ticket for his own observations without issuing a warning but could not include any part of the complaint as part of the ticketing offence.
“Our peace officers’ job is to enforce what we lay out for them,” said Councillor Jason Harvey.
Mayor Nathan Anderson said council will discuss the issue of bylaw enforcement further at a later date to determine if there is a better way to address enforcement.
A date to discuss the issue has not yet been set.
Council unanimously voted to approve an application for subdivision and lot consolidations of about 1.4 acres of land in the northeast quarter section of land in NE 26-28-1 near Sunset Heights and Smith Avenue.
However, another subdivision application from a developer was tabled because staff requires more information. This application was for a parcel of land north of Limit Avenue and west of Harrison.reet.
Council unanimously passed the first readings for two textual amendments to the Town of Crossfield Land Use Bylaw.
The first amendment was the definition of “dwelling, secondary suite.”
Changes include but are not limited to “naming a dwelling unit as an accessory to the dwelling to the main single family unit and consisting of bedroom(s), bathroom and kitchen developed to Alberta Building Code standards.”
As well as, a dwelling unit does not exceed 70 square metres, which differs from the original 100 square metres outlined in the original bylaw.
A public hearing for the amendments will occur at 6 p.m. on Oct. 1 at the Town Office.
The second amendment is to the development permits approval process.
Previously, the bylaw required developers to submit 150 per cent of the estimated cost of completing the project to the Town to endure compliance with the conditions of the permit.
The amended version requires developers to apply for a Development Completion Certificate in lieu of the deposit.
A public hearing for this amendment will follow the hearing for the dwelling unit changes on Oct. 1, at 6:30 p.m.
