Land use bylaw scrutinized

Sharon McLeay
Times Contributor

 

There has been a lot of development in Wheatland County in the last nine years, and the new land use bylaw (LUB) will update development and align its content with the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP) guidelines and guide County development in the future.
Wheatland County’s new land use bylaw public hearing was held before Wheatland County council on Sept. 20.
“We got a lot of great feedback and communication with the public on this process,” said Colton Nickel, intermediate planner for the county.
Open houses were held and a stakeholders group formed that included persons familiar with land development issues. Wheatland County staff members and emergency, fire and protective services also gave input. Out-of-the-box situations led to consultations with experts in fields such as animal protection, solar and wind farms, and manufactured homes.
There are 1,486 parcels of land that will see a zoning change due to the new LUB. Letters went out to landholders in May and June of 2016. The proposed draft bylaw was introduced to council on July 19 and notices were posted in hamlets, in social media and local newspapers throughout the process, in order for residents and stakeholders to give input.
Some of the changes in the new bylaw include: eased regulations for home based-business; clearer regulations for site requirements like fencing, signs and screening, keeping in mind protection of views and aesthetics of the community; addition of intensified industrial and rural business designations with two categories of industrial designations that will protect the air, noise levels and possible pollution issues; agriculture protection to discourage land fragmentation remains in place, but ag small holding designations were eliminated, leaving landowners as ag general or country residential designation (ag general designation is anything over 20 acres and country residential 20 acres or less); solar and wind initiatives have been streamlined and extended to bigger parcel sizes; gravel pits have additional regulations and setbacks to protect surrounding properties; allowing bed and breakfast facilities in hamlets, and developing a parks and recreation category with attached regulations that will encourage tourism potential; guidelines on development next to or on environmentally sensitive land, with environmental studies required prior to oil and gas well activity; guidelines for environmental reserves, lighting restrictions to reduce light pollution, and easements to protect water and watersheds within the county.
There were also 15 items modified from the initial draft, prior to the public hearing. See the Sept. 20 recorded video on the Wheatland County website for these additions.
For the full bylaw and draft LUB see the County of Wheatland website under planning or the Sept. 20 agenda and minutes attachments.