BARRHEAD - A County of Barrhead resident got the go-ahead to subsidize their Manola-area property.
Councillors, during their Aug. 19 meeting, approved the subdivision application, voting 6-1 to allow the resident to remove a 12.8-acre parcel from a previously subdivided quarter to create a new country residential (CR) lot.
Coun. Walter Preugschas was opposed.
Development officer Layne Mullen said the property is located in an Agricultural District and is the result of a previous subdivision, which separated it from a larger parcel to the north that borders the Pembina River.
She said, the proposed lot is in the shape of a panhandle and contains a mobile home, a primary residence, assorted outbuildings, a water well and a wastewater lagoon.
"The remainder of the property contains cultivated lands as well as wetlands [adjacent to the Pembina River]," she said.
Under the county's municipal development plan, the minimum area for a developed county residential parcel is three acres, with a maximum of 10 acres.
However, Mullen said, the subdivision authority can consider CR lots up to 15 acres, provided a real property report is included.
She added, if council approved the application, the quarter section would include two lots zoned agricultural, as well as the new country residential lot.
Mullen said the applicant would access the new lot via Range Road 22 and that the property already has two approaches built to the county's standard.
Mullen said the administration recommends approving the application with the following conditions: that the applicant provide a real property report, as well as a copy of the certification of the property's sewage system, along with the standard conditions that the landowner's account be up to date with all taxes and any outstanding appraisal fees paid.
She added that, as the parcel is the second lot taken out of the quarter, the applicant would have put up a cash payment in place of property for a municipal reserve. The applicant is also subject to an environmental easement to protect the top bank of the Pembina River.
Coun. Walter Preugschas said in the report from the county's planner, Municipal Planning Services (MPS), it mentioned a historical resource.
Specifically, the report states that the proposed site cold be affected by an identified historic resource on an adjacent property. It also states that the site may be affected by an abondoned well, flood plains, and approval of a licence, registration or other certification under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act as well as previously mentioned wetlands.
Mullen admitted she missed the reference in the report.
"It is one of the things [the province] looks into to see who any potential appeal will go to," she said. "In this case, it would to to the Land and Property Rights Tribunal rather than the [Subdivision and Development Appeal Board]. There isn't anything necessarily that needs to happen because of it."
Mullen added if sometime in the future, the property owner wanted to further develop the lot, the municipality would have to ask the province what type of application the owner would need from Alberta Environment and Protected Areas.
"It is not always required. It depends on the level of historic resource," she said.
Preugschas said he also wasn't enamoured with the shape of the proposed subdivision, suggesting that they split the remainder of one quarter left in the quarter section in half.
"Instead of having that panhandle," he said.
Mullen said, there wasn't enough land left due to the previous subdivisions.
"It is just a subdivision around the farmstead to keep it separate from the agricultural portion," she said.
Reeve Doug Drozd said the rationale for the subdivision was likely to put as much viable farmland into one parcel, so that if the owner wished, they could sell the farmland separately from the homestead.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
