Rocky View County (RVC) will not move forward with the creation of an Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP) with its neighbour to the north, Mountain View County (MVC).
At MVC’s request, RVC council unanimously passed a resolution during a regular meeting Feb. 11 that the IDP was not necessary. The IDP would have applied to the area adjacent to the two municipalities’ shared border.
“The area in question is primarily zoned for agriculture, and we do have a good working relationship with MVC,” said Ben Manshanden, RVC intergovernmental affairs co-ordinator. “We also have the Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework (ICF) [between the municipalities], which provides a mechanism for discussion and dispute resolution.”
For that reason, he said, administration felt there were minimal risks associated with forgoing the IDP.
MVC passed a similar resolution Feb. 12.
According to Manshanden, previous Municipal Government Act (MGA) requirements necessitated an IDP for lands adjacent to an intermunicipal boundary. However, amendments from Dec. 5, 2019 provide municipalities the option to opt out of the requirement with a resolution from both councils.
RVC held a public hearing and granted second reading to the IDP bylaw with MVC Dec. 10, 2019. The bylaw was then sent to the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB) for its approval before third reading.
“If either party decides an IDP is warranted in the future, they can make a request to the other County and it must be completed within one year,” Manshanden added.
Opting out of the IDP was one of several intermunicipal items addressed during the meeting. Council unanimously repealed a previous ICF bylaw with MVC that was adopted Dec. 10, 2019, and adopted a new one.
Manshanden said the repeal of the ICF Regulation, which came into effect Jan. 1, necessitated revisions to the framework.
“The most significant change due to the repeal of the ICF Regulation was that, previously, we had incorporated the dispute resolution process via reference to the regulation,” he said. “However, now that the regulation has been repealed, we had to amend our ICF to actually include a dispute resolution process.”
Council also voted unanimously to adopt an ICF with its neighbour, the Municipal District of Bighorn.
“This particular ICF identifies intermunicipal collaboration with respect to agricultural services, without the exchange of funds, and it also identifies an agreement for shared use of the Scott Lake Hill Waste Transfer Site in Bighorn,” Manshanden said.
It also creates a process for dispute resolution and establishes a committee to ensure continued co-operation between the two municipalities, he added. It does not identify any opportunities for shared services, such as water or recreation.
