The Red Deer County Intermunicipal Subdivision and Development Appeal Board ruled that they did not have the jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a resident applying for several building permits.The appeal was brought to the board when the resident, Harry Veenstra, deemed that his request for building permits was denied as Red Deer County council had not made a decision within the 120 days in which council is required to respond to an application.However, representatives from Red Deer County administration presented to the appeal board a disclaimer which had notified Veenstra that the procedure required to process his application could take 120 days or longer.Veenstra's application for the construction of three shop/office lease buildings was first heard by county council on July 5, 2010. At that time, councillors decided they needed more information about the site before approving the application.An assessment of the proposed location of the buildings, just north of the City of Red Deer off Highway 2A, found that there was a list of deficiencies that needed to be addressed before the application was approved, said county officials.Officials also said they are currently in the process of doing a storm water management plan review for the area which can take several months. Once the new plan has been approved, council will once again address Veenstra's application for the building permits, officials said.Veenstra's engineer for the project, Mike Richards, spoke on his behalf, saying that it is in their best interests to work closely with the county on the application, but added that it seems like the project is no longer going forward.After being presented with a timeline of correspondence between the county and the applicant, the board ruled it could not hear the appeal, as the issue was still open in front of council, announced board chair Don Sibbald.The other members of the board included Bob Northey, Glen LaBuc, Susanne Widdecke, and Gordon Cove.
