ATHABASCA – Two public hearings regarding potential development projects in the Wandering River area took place at Athabasca County’s latest council meeting, with one being rejected outright, and another sitting in limbo for the foreseeable future.
A public hearing on a land use bylaw amendment, Bylaw 003-2022, that would rezone a 32.95-acre parcel of land within the hamlet from Hamlet Residential to Light Industrial, to allow the applicant to construct a shop to house his three vehicles and his mobile steam business.
No one spoke for or against the development and council went on to unanimously reject second reading of the bylaw with a 0-9 vote.
“I have some concerns about this property,” said Coun. Ashtin Anderson before the vote. “Mainly the impact it could have within the Hamlet of Wandering River, by allowing or encouraging additional heavy truck traffic to that community through what I would consider to be sensitive areas.”
Coun. Gary Cromwell, who represents the Wandering River area, said trucks were already being parked on the street there, so he wasn’t sure approving the change would result in more traffic.
“I don't think that would add more truck traffic other than during the construction portion of it,” he said.
Regardless, the amendment did not proceed.
The other public hearing, on Bylaw 005-2022, led to the approval of second reading, but council decided not to move third reading for the final approval, yet. Instead, the application to rezone an Agriculture district to Campground Commercial, to accommodate a proposed 50-stall campground
A representative from the developer, B2B Farming Ltd., spoke in favour of the development, while a Wandering River resident brought forward a letter against the rezoning, on behalf of residents of the community.
The rezoning of agricultural land has long been an issue in the Wandering River area, with one faction resisting attempts to rezone parcels to allow for campground developments citing increased traffic, dust and crime. The other faction sees the development of the campgrounds as an economic boom for the area and takes issue with those who lump them into the same category as those who develop campsites without county approval.
The issue has seen little movement in the last several years.
“I'm going to be voting in opposition here,” said Cromwell. “I’ve spoken with a great deal of both campground owners and non-campground owners, and I think we have a lot of work to be done before allowing any more development like that to continue. I think we can look into different ideas like increasing what current campground owners have, and so forth, but I believe this is not a smart move for our community right now to add this element.”
Second reading was carried with a 7-2 vote, but stalled at third reading, with no one motioning to put it forward.
Development officer Christa Wilkenson advised council that if third reading was defeated that day, the application would be done, whereas, not proceeding to third reading would start a two-year countdown to bring it back to council, without the developer forfeiting his $500 application fee.
A motion to defer third reading was defeated 4-5, so the bylaw amendment will be held until it is brought back to council.
