Berry operation put on hold
Rocky View County (RVC) council passed second reading on Oct. 11 for a subdivision proposal to establish a haskap and Saskatoon berry farm on a property formerly used for grazing by Milagro Farms Andalusians on Grand Valley Road, on the western side of Rocky View County.
But council would not guarantee third reading without some substantial changes made to the site planning.
The owners of the Milagro Farms Andalusians, Kenneth and Theresa Ann Hagel, said they wished to subdivide a 20-acre parcel out of their existing lands and redesignate it “ag small” in order to allow their daughter to build a house and establish the berry farm in a previously undeveloped portion of their land, after giving up most of their prize-winning Andalusian horse stock in recent years.
Several local neighbours wrote to council during the Oct. 11 public hearing to express their opposition to the proposed subdivision. Many cited fears of increased vehicular traffic, disruptions to the agricultural purpose of the property, fears that a new acreages will be built in this undeveloped area of the property, improper access roads to a proposed secondary residence in the new subdivision, potential disruptions to streams in the area, the breaking up of undisturbed land, and disruptions to local wildlife.
RVC staff concluded in its presentation to council that the proposed subdivision should be rejected on the grounds there was no need to subdivide the land, as it was already designated for agricultural use and could support a berry operation as is.
Deputy Mayor and Div. 3 Coun. Crystal Kissel said she too had some concerns about the plan presented to council by Milagro Farms Andalusian, and proposed a motion that the applicants be given more time to work on their site plan for the property in an attempt to address some of the concerns their neighbours had, and to address County staff’s boundary concerns, before being given second reading.
She then introduced a motion to refer the application back to administration to work with the applicants to “address road access and boundary line concerns.”
Div. 5 Coun. Greg Boehlke said he could not support Kissel’s motion because it was improper procedure to tell an applicant to make changes without giving them second reading. Kissel’s motion was defeated 4-3, with Couns. Kissel, Samanntha Wright and Kevin Hanson voting in favour.
After some consideration by council, Kissel eventually introduced a separate motion to give second reading to the Hagels’ subdivision application, which passed unanimously.
Kissel was then allowed, by consent of council, to bring her original motion back for reconsideration: for the applicants to work with RVC administration to address road and boundary line concerns.
Hanson expressed some frustration with the roundabout process that brought Kissel’s motion back on the floor for reconsideration after being voted down just a few minutes before.
“Practically, this makes very little difference,” he stated. “And if we think as a council that second reading really means something to people when we can do whatever we want for third reading – I think we are fooling ourselves. But, I will play along and I’m going to support (Kissel’s motion).”
Boehlke took exception to Hanson’s comments.
“I am going to support (Kissel’s motion), and I completely disagree (with Hanson),” he said. “We show confidence to the applicant that council is on board with their request. They have a reason now to go and work with administration to consider the things council has asked for. So I think second reading really does mean something. It means council is in true support of this.”
Mayor and Div. 2 Coun. Don Kochan said he would not support Kissel’s motion because he believed there were problems with the subdivision proposal in the first place.
Kissel’s motion passed by a vote of 6-1, with only Kochan opposed.
Trucking company allowed to set up storage yard
New Way Trucking Company Ltd. asked that RVC council allow it to redesignate some agricultural land located next to the southwest junction of Highway 560 (Glenmore Trail) and Range Road 283, approximately 1.2 kilometres east of the city of Calgary into Industrial, Light District (I-LHT) to accommodate the expansion of its trucking operations.
Council was informed by County staff that Alberta Transportation has previously indicated it was planning to expropriate these lands for use in the future Highway 560 expansion for the construction of an interchange, off-ramp and service road. Staff told council the company also had plans to build a small structure on the site to accommodate a private truck wash and administration offices, and have a gravel parking lot that would store up to 100 trucks on site.
The company would only be allowed to build under a temporary permit, according to staff, meaning once the interchange was ready for construction, they would have to vacate the site and remove all structures.
Given the province’s future plans, council wondered if building anything temporary on the site was worth granting a redesignation at this moment.
Company agent, Bart Carswell of Carswell Planning, said his clients were fully aware of what the “temporary” status would mean if granted the redesignation.
“We understand this might be an interchange in maybe 20 years; it’s hard to say,” said Carswell. “But that’s fine for them (the company). They will have a gravel parking lot. It’s not going to be permanent; everything can be changed. It’s just something for now.”
Carswell went on to say the 18 acres under consideration were already surrounded by other industrial lands, and that even if the company plans to establish a storm pond and building on the site, it was prepared to remove them in the future once interchange construction was scheduled to begin.
A motion to approve the redesignation of the lands from agriculture small to I-LHT was put forth by Div. 6 Coun. Sunny Samra. He said he was satisfied the applicant fully understood the nature of the temporary permit, and the necessity in the future of removing any structures from the site.
Div. 1 Coun. Kevin Hanson then said he would not support the application because the I-LHT designation allowed for too many permanent uses and constructions to be permitted on the site, which could be problematic in the future when it came time for the highway interchange to be built.
Samra’s motion passed by a vote of 6-1 in favour. Hanson was the only member to vote against it.
Beekeepers, farm-to-table operation welcome
Also on Oct. 11, RVC council approved a motion to allow a local beekeeping and farm-to-table market garden operation on Range Road 43 just north of the Weedon Trail and the hamlet of Cochrane Lake.
Applicant Vicki Benoit, who is co-owner of the property, asked RVC council to allow her to redesignate a 20-acre portion in the northeastern corner of her lands from Agricultural, General District (A-GEN) to Agricultural, Small Parcel District (A-SML) in order to facilitate the future subdivision.
“We have been experimenting with this (farm-to-table operation) for awhile,” Benoit told councillors. “And myself and my son have been experimenting with beekeeping and commercial gardening trying to see if it was viable to do on this existing 20 acres.
“We do think we have a connection with the restaurant businesses … We think it is very viable on a small section because you can actually link yourself in with one or two restaurants, and the public is demanding more farm-to-table.”
Benoit said she had no plans to establish a public market on the site, but to merely produce her vegetables and honey for off-site sales, which she claimed should have a low impact on traffic flows through the area.
Benoit’s application was approved unanimously by council, with Deputy Mayor Crystal Kissel not present for the vote.
