Commercial developments pass CMRB scrutiny

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

One county resident will be pleased to hear that commercial developments will be welcomed in the West Wheatland Highway 1 Area Structure Plan (WH1ASP), as they have an application to develop a restaurant/service station in Origin Business Park.
Commercial development for the business park was passed by the interim Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB) on July 4, and a third and final reading was accepted by Wheatland County council on Aug. 20.
It is hoped the approval encourages economic development in the business park, which has been slow to develop in the past.
“We are pleased to advise that we did not receive a challenge to CMRB administration’s recommendations,” said Jordon Copping, CMRB chief officer, in the approval letter to Wheatland County.
The WH1ASP previously did not provide for the development of supermarkets, service stations, big box stores or standalone commercial retail units.
It is one of the first applications sent to the CMRB for approval under new government guidelines.
CMRB allows a 58-day allotment for the application process, review process and potential challenges prior to the final approval.
The general public or landowners cannot challenge the application with the board. The challenge applies to member municipalities that may take exception to the application. The board considers that the landowner and public have made their case to their municipal representative during local public hearings, and their councils can accept or deny the statutory or amendment merits.
The CMRB has posted an Interim Regional Evaluation Framework interpretation guide on its website as an aid to understanding procedures used for applications.
Municipalities choose the statutory plans or amendments that fit the CMRB evaluation criteria and then submit them to the board. The application has to provide the information indicated on a board checklist for submission and then they evaluate the information provided. It is evaluated not on technical, design merit, planning or any other criteria not included under the application guidelines.
The CMRB does not discuss the application with developers, landowners or the public to keep the evaluation procedure objective. An impartial external consultant, or a team of three technical advisers from senior government and inter-government staff within the municipal members do an additional review of the application.
Postings of the results of the third-party review and the CMRB recommendation report are on the board’s website under the relevant CMRB agenda package. After evaluation approval, other member municipalities are notified and they can register a challenge to the application.