Richard Froese
South Peace News
Big Lakes County has finalized an updated Municipal Development Plan and Land-Use Bylaw to direct growth for the next five years.
At its regular meeting Feb. 26, council gave third and final readings to both bylaws.
Reeve Tyler Airth says the updated MDP sets new priorities to protect agricultural land and consider projects for alternative energy.
“The new MDP introduces more-stringent policies to limit the fragmentation of farmland, including forage lands, to provide stronger protection from agricultural lands from development,” Airth says.
Better agricultural land is now defined as lands with a rural farmland assessment rating of 28 per cent or greater, he notes.
Regulating confined feeding operations is another priority for council in the new MDP.
“These operations should be located only within 0.8 km of an arterial or collector road within the county so it does not strain the road network and utilizes already-upgraded infrastructure designed to meet the need of development such as this,” Airth says.
The new MDP also introduces a policy stating that projects for alternative energy cannot be located on better agricultural land, he says.
“The the MDP recognizes the surge in renewable energy projects in the province and has added policies to guide this type of development in the county,” Airth says.
Additionally, the new MDP states that the county will now require a decommissioning and reclamation plan as part of the application process for solar energy facilities, wind energy conversion systems and other large-scale alternative energy projects, Airth says.
The previous MDP and LUB were adopted in 2017 and updates to some sections are needed to make both documents more relevant, says Pat Olansky, director of community services and planning.
Updates in the documents were needed “to reduce red tape for residents and businesses, consider new land development trends, align with current policy documents and better reflect community needs to support the growth and development of the county”, Olansky says.
During the review process, the county invited ideas on various types of future growth such as:
-Commercial and industrial development in the county.
-Alternative energy projects such as wind farm and solar collectors.
-Storage of recreational vehicles in hamlets.
-Industrial camps.
-Use of industrial wellsite trailers.
Alternative energy systems is one significant new aspect of predicted growth, she says.
“The county expects to be approached in the near future about larger-scale solar and wind farms,” Olansky says.
The project also reviewed setbacks from rural roads, provincial highways, internal subdivision roads and hamlet streets, including corner lots with two adjacent streets.
Impacts of commercial and industrial uses were reviewed.
The review also set standards to optimize existing infrastructure for new development.