The Pho Duc Vietnamese Buddhist Centre will find a new home in Rocky View County (RVC).
Council approved a land redesignation and accompanying Master Site Development Plan (MSDP) for the centre following a public hearing Feb. 11. According to planner Johnson Kwan, the decision allows for the development of a religious assembly at the junction of Highway 560 and Highway 791, southeast of Chestermere.
“The applicant proposed that the existing residence would be used for a religious assembly, and there would be little development on site,” he said.
The centre would operate similar to how it currently does, Kwan said, and would be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week, with special events on the weekends. The majority of members come from Calgary.
Kwan noted the application did not meet the policies of the County Plan.
“The County Plan encourages institutional uses to locate in hamlets, country residential communities and business centres,” he said.
When an institutional use like a religious assembly is located outside of those areas, he continued, the applicant must provide a justification for the location, demonstrate the benefit to the broader public, address compatibility and integration with existing land uses in the area and demonstrate infrastructure has capacity to service the development.
“The applicant provided limited information on the proposed religious assembly use,” Kwan added.
Further, more than two-thirds of the site would be impacted by future highway intersection improvements on Highway 560 and Highway 791, he noted.
“Alberta Transportation indicates that only temporary uses will be considered within the area required for the future interchange,” Kwan said.
Kwan noted the intersection upgrades are a long-term plan and are not foreseen to occur for 10 to 20 years.
Despite administration’s recommendation for refusal, council was widely supportive of the application, with Area Coun. Jerry Gautreau moving to grant second reading to the redesignation bylaw.
“I believe the applicants completely understand there is a time limit on this piece of property,” said Coun. Crystal Kissel. “The fact that they’re going to have a religious assembly – and it may be 10 years, it may be 20, and they understand that – I think that they should enjoy the land today, as it is.”
Deputy Reeve Al Schule was the sole vote against second reading. He said he opposed the application because the majority of members were not RVC residents, and he wished the application would have come as an added land use to the current district, rather than a redesignation.
“With the utmost respect, religion has no boundaries – it doesn’t matter where we’re from,” Gautreau countered. “It’s a place of worship, and I think people can travel from far and wide to come to a facility. I don’t look at where people actually come from.”
Gautreau noted, however, he would like to see restrictions on building put in place at the development permit stage.
Third reading of the redesignation and approval of the MSDP were granted unanimously.
Follow me on Twitter @BenSherick
