A new type of land use district could be added to Rocky View County’s (RVC) Land Use Bylaw, following a decision by council during a July 9 regular meeting.
Council green-lit the preparation of a new live/work land use that will allow intensive but controlled business activity on certain residential parcels, following administration’s response to a June 25 notice of motion by Deputy Reeve Al Schule and Coun. Jerry Gautreau.
“Making this a land use district does not mean it will be automatically granted,” Schule said. “It just gives us more options for council to look at, [and] more options for residents.”
Gautreau and Schule appended a template to the notice of motion indicating discretionary uses in the new district could include automotive services, outdoor storage and warehouses, while also permitting dwellings.
The original notice of motion suggested the new district apply specifically to parcels in Central East RVC, but Richard Barss, acting executive director of Community Development Services, said land use districts are generally applied universally across the County.
A motion by Gautreau to prepare policy for the new district and include it in the Land Use Bylaw carried 5-4 – Reeve Greg Boehlke and Couns. Kevin Hanson, Crystal Kissel and Samanntha Wright voted in opposition. Boehlke said he felt the move was premature.
"We're redoing the Land Use Bylaw anyway [and] we've got work going on that, so that's being launched," he said. "I'm not against the fact of the new land use, I'm just against staff having to drop the work their doing today when they're already doing a Land Use Bylaw rewrite."
According to Barss, once the new district is prepared, a public hearing is required in order to amend the Land Use Bylaw.
