Restoring of Regional Economic Development Alliances Investment throughout Alberta

The Town of Claresholm recently passed a motion to direct a letter to the new Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation to appeal for restoring of Regional Economic Development Alliances investment throughout Alberta. An invite was sent to the Alberta SW Regional Alliance to appeal to members of the Regional Economic Development Alliance to support an initiative to further lobby the Provincial Government to restore the full $100,000 annual investment to the nine Regional Economic Development Alliances' of Alberta and offer an investment contract of 5-years. Council agreed this is something they would like to do and after a short discussion, Councillor Glavin made a motion that Council send a letter of support and the motion was carried.

Bylaw 1058, 2020 - LUB Amendment - Comprehensive Ski Village District: Zero (0) Lot Line Setback - Second and Third Reading

Administration is recommending a text amendment to the Land Use Bylaw to reduce the minimum front-yard setback in the Comprehensive Ski Village (CSV) Land Use District from 3.0 m. (10 ft.) to a zero lot line setback. Due to constraints posed by the mountainous terrain and steep sloping nature of parcels located in Southmore, extensive excavation of shale bedrock is required to meet the front-yard setback requirements for development. This reduces the viability of development in this District. Recently, the Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) reviewed and approved Development Permit No. DP2020-076 for a Single-Family Dwelling in Southmore, a subdivision of Blairmore. Development standards and regulations in Southmore are governed by the Comprehensive Ski Village (CSV) Land Use District. The CSV District was exclusively created for development in Southmore. No other parcels within the Municipality are designated as CSV. The minimum front-yard setback in the CSV District is 3.0 m. / 10 ft..

The Applicant proposed a zero (0) front-yard setback, meaning the footprint of the dwelling would be constructed at the property line such that the eaves do not encroach into the right-of-way (Municipal boulevard). The zero (0) frontyard setback was proposed due to the mountainous terrain and steep sloping nature of the parcel, which poses significant and onerous challenges for development by restricting the potential developable area and requiring extensive excavation of the shale bedrock to meet the existing minimum setback. There is approximately 4.04 m. / 13.26 ft. of Municipal boulevard between the back of the curb and the parcel's front property line (those property lines abutting the roadway (Southmore Place)). Even with a zero (0) front-yard setback, if a dwelling is approved to be constructed at the property line, it will appear to be setback approximately 4.04 m. / 13.26 ft. from the roadway. The subdivision of Southmore was originally approved with an engineered grading plan prepared by Cicon (Cicon, 2008). Each individual parcel was provided a lot grading slip that identified the area of the parcel suitable for development. However, when the CSV District was created, the development standards, specifically the front-yard setbacks, were not consistent with those identified in the engineered grading plans. Administration expects that similar onerous site conditions will exist on other parcels in Southmore. The extent of a variance to allow significant setbacks requires the preparation of notices, reports and agendas to adjacent landowners and the MPC and a 21-day appeal period, all of which adds approximately six weeks to the application process for what should be a much shorter permitted use application process. Reducing the front-yard setback standard in the CSV District will address this matter and enable the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass to process development permits in a timeframe that is more conducive to a development friendly approach. After a short discussion, Councillor Ward made a motion for second reading. That motion was carried. Councillor Filipuzzi then made a motion for third and final reading and that motion was carried.

Capital Infrastructure Project Discussion

Council asked Administration to complete a review of 213 Street in Bellevue and 22 Avenue in Blairmore to determine the condition of the utilities for each project and whether they should move ahead with surfacing improvements. The intent of the review was to estimate a remaining service life for the deep utilities to determine if the provision of surface improvements could be considered prior to deep utility improvements and whether there would be significant throw away related to future replacement of the deep utilities. This information was presented to Council at the October 6, 2020 Council meeting and after considerable discussion, was deferred. Administration is looking for Council to provide direction on the focus of the next capital infrastructure project, which dependent on the overall costs, may include the 2020, 2021, 2022 and even 2023 capital infrastructure investments. Some members of Council inquired as to whether there were other projects that could also be considered. There is a portion of the funding from the Federal Gas Tax that needs to be spent on roads, however it does not need to be either of these roads, and can be invested elsewhere. The remainder of the balance is MSI funding and has a fairly broad range. Some other items for consideration are another road (chosen by condition assessments), another underground (chosen by condition assessments) or Downtown Coleman Phase II. There are also two other projects, while not meeting the intent of infrastructure renewal, and have been previously discussed which could be considered under the MSI funding are a Fieldhouse or the Municipal Office. During discussion, it was brought up by Councillor Sygutek that the amount of money that these projects could cost is large and that she would like to make sure the municipality spent the money on the most important section of the community. "If we are going to spend 4.5 million on a road, I want to make sure it's on the worst roads we have in the community and not a back road." Councillor Syugtek made a motion that Administration comes back to Council with alternative options based on worst condition.

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