Rocky View County (RVC) council approved a redesignation application that will facilitate the future creation of a three-acre parcel with a 3.52-acre remainder near Chestermere, north of Highway 560 and east of Range Road 275 during a regular meeting Nov. 26.
According to applicant Larry Konschuk, the owners – Ashok and Gurpreet Minhas and Nitenjit and Piara Panag – bought the parcel in 2006 with the intention of each building a house.
The proposed development was inconsistent with country residential polices of the County Plan, said planner Xin Deng, as it would constitute a second parcel out – the existing farmstead was a first parcel out in 1992. Administration therefore recommended refusing the application.
However, Deputy Reeve Al Schule – the area councillor – moved to grant second and third reading for the redesignation, which was supported by his colleagues.
“I know this doesn’t conform with policy, but when I do look at that area, it is transition, definitely,” he said. “I also was looking at whether this was taking agricultural land out of use – definitely, it’s not. That piece of land looks like it hasn’t been utilized or used to its fullest for the longest time.”