Town to prep land annexation application
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Town of Strathmore is continuing their preparations to acquire additional land from Wheatland County in order to support future growth and development.
Council received a report from administration during the Feb. 4 meeting detailing the current status of the annexation negotiations, as well as the recommended next steps.
“Administration has been working with Wheatland County to successfully negotiate an annexation agreement and to prepare the annexation application for submission,” said Vicki Dodge, project manager with the Town of Strathmore. “A key component of that annexation application is the development of an application report and that report is being prepared for the town by ISL Engineering … the annexation application report in essence, summarizes all of the technical analyses including transportation and utility servicing, population growth analysis, and fiscal impact assessment for an annexation.”
The town is proposing the annexation of over three quarter sections of land from the county which is targeted to support non-residential development as well as increased housing options.
An open house was hosted in the fall of last year to introduce the idea to local residents. It was previously estimated that the town would apply to take over 560 acres from the county.
The two locations are proposed on the west side of the town. The south region being immediately below Highway 1, and the north being effectively adjacent to Lakewood.
“The annexation application report also contains a summary of public and landowner engagement activities, and also a summary of the negotiations that have been undertaken with the county in order to reach a successful annexation agreement,” said Dodge. “Administration is striving to conclude those negotiations with Wheatland County and within the next month or so, we are hoping to have an application package ready to go to the land and property rights tribunal.”
The objective is to submit the application by the conclusion of the first quarter of this year at the latest. Once the town submits their annexation application to the province, the land and property rights tribunal undertakes their own review process, which can include a hearing.
Following the hearing, or if the tribunal determines a hearing is not necessary, a recommending report is submitted to the Minister of Municipal Affairs. The final annexation decision is made by the province’s cabinet.
The town has no control over the amount of time it will take for the application to move from the tribunal to the province, and ultimately to approval.
Council voted to accept the administrative report and directed administration to take further necessary actions to prepare the annexation application to submit to the land and property rights tribunal.