MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - After months of staff work and stakeholder input through consultations, proposed changes to Mountain View County’s land use bylaw (LUB) will go to public hearing on July 14, including regarding hours of operation for aggregate extraction.
The changes are being made to bring the legislation in line with the updated provincial Municipal Government Act and with the county’s newly updated municipal development plan.
“With most of the proposed changes we got good feedback from the public in the process. I think the changes are good ones,” said reeve Bruce Beattie.
The proposed updates are intended to address issues encountered over the past two year and to provide clarification and clear interpretation with the legislation, he said.
Areas of change include regarding dwelling manufactured/modular, secondary suites, dugouts, gravel pits, shipping containers or sea cans, re-application and re-submission intervals, and caveats for development agreements. Specifically:
• Operating regulations Section 14.3 aggregate extraction/processing district - To add that a pit operator can provide written consent from the majority of landowners within a half mile of a pit, to the county, to consider extended hours of operation for all pit operations including crushing.
• Dugouts - The amendment will allow parcels zoned country residential and residential farmstead to have a dugout without the issuance of a development permit.
• Shipping containers - The amendments will allow for additional sea cans to be considered exempt within the agricultural districts and allow for one sea can to be considered exempt within residential farmstead (R-F) district.
• Secondary suites - The proposed changes would allow two secondary suites to be considered on parcels greater than 28.33 hectares when two detached dwelling units exist.
• Additional clarification within Section 5.6.7 Issuance and Validity of Development Permits are proposed to identify a process for when an approving authority should consider an amendment to an issued development permit.
• Caveats for development agreements, caveat for restrictive covenants and restrictive covenants - A new section to include a process for development when development is proposed not inn compliance with registered instruments of title.
“We know that we’ve have input about the value of sea cans in protecting property,” said Beattie. “They are pretty effective in terms of storage when we have issues around rural crime and people want the ability to have more.”
The public hearing will take place in council chambers starting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. Written comments to council regarding the proposed changes were accepted until July 12.
