Mechanical reprieve

Times Contributor  

 

The owner of Moc’s Mechanical is relieved that Wheatland Council gave him a one-year extension on operating his business north of Gleichen.

Officers were called as Sidhu’s mechanical license had expired and the site looked to be in violation of the conditions of his business permit. No vehicles were permitted for storage and could not be on site for more than five days, and there were reports of up to 30 vehicles parked there.

“It is nice to have the business in the area and have controls; the amount of vehicles that are accumulating is my concern. I recommend that we refuse this application unless all our concerns are met,” said Councillor Ken Sauve. 

Councillor Berniece Bland wondered if those vehicles in contravention of the permit could be towed or impounded.

Sidhu said that customers from Siksika had asked him to store the vehicles there until they had cleared space due to the recent flood situation. He said he had his own vehicles, and friends have brought their cars over to work on and to utilize his shop. Some customers had not paid mechanical bills and Sidhu could not release those vehicles until the bills had been met. 

Councillor Armstrong suggested that having a business permit allowed the county a mechanism to police cleanup and licensing requirements. He reminded council that there were no regulations on personal vehicles.

Councillor Sauve asked whether a set number of vehicles could be stipulated in the permit. Sidhu requested six to ten; however, councillors suggested three would be the maximum.

Councillors agreed to issue the one-year extension provided Sidhu attained his license, the number of on-site vehicles would be kept under three and any vehicles on site had license and insurance coverage.

The permit would be reviewed in one year with re-evaluation of compliance.

Affordable Storage in the Cheadle area also got a reprieve of one year for their recreational vehicle storage site.

According to the criteria for secondary businesses, the site would have to be rezoned for Industrial General Use. Development officers recommended the extension, as the owners had started the rezoning process. Without the conditional renewal, they would have to shut down the business until the lengthy process of rezoning was complete.

Councillor Bland vouched for the owner, stating he had always followed county business guidelines in the past.

Two other business permits involving vehicles were renewed on Aug 19. Keith Gregory of Cattleland was allowed to operate his secondary heavy mechanical shop until 2018 and the Stouts were allowed to continue their Oilfield Consulting and vehicle import business for three additional years, if they had no more than two vehicles for sale on-site at one time.