County passes road licensing bylaw
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Wheatland County council passed third and final reading for Bylaw 2024-27, being the Road Licensing bylaw during the Sept. 3 regular meeting of council.
First and second readings of the bylaw had been granted at the Aug. 13 regular meeting, followed by a motion to hold third and final reading at that time.
During the Aug. 13 meeting, permission to hold third reading at that meeting was not at the time unanimously supported, and thus the bylaw was required to be deferred to a later meeting.
It was stated in administration’s report to council that various instances have occurred whereby the county has not been able to grant approvals for, or has been unable to authorize certain uses of public lands and undeveloped road rights-of-way.
A License of Occupation may be issued by a municipality which authorizes or permits an individual or company to use a portion of public land or road right-of-way under the municipality’s jurisdiction for an authorized use, under a set of terms and conditions.
Section 13 of the Traffic Safety Act states that a municipality must have a License of Occupation Bylaw in place in order to grant or issue a license.
The county aims to lease county-owned lands within an existing area structure plan for agricultural use. The lands in question contain a grid network of both subdivided lots and undeveloped county road rights-of-way.
The leasing of right-of-way is prohibited through legislation, and thus the county is unable to lease certain lands due to the constraints of parcel sizes within the right-of-way.
By issuing Licenses of Occupation for undeveloped rights-of-way to winning bidders of a lease for titled lands, the county may be effectively able to authorize the lease holder to farm the undeveloped right-of-way, and the remainder of the parceled lands as a whole.
Should the bylaw be passed, the county chief administrative officer would be able to grant or issue licenses to applicants acting on their own. A license within the county could only be granted for specific use cases which are outlined within the bylaw, which pertain strictly to undeveloped road right-of-way not required for public access.
Following discussion regarding the bylaw, Wheatland County council voted in favour of passing third reading of the bylaw, 4-2, with Coun. Glenn Koester and Coun. Rick Laursen being opposed to the resolution.
The full discussion regarding the bylaw is publicly available via the county’s YouTube channel. More information regarding the now passed bylaw may be found through the county’s public meeting agenda for the Sept. 3 meeting.