Town council snubbed a request last week to turn a proposed business park into a wetland reserve after it learned the wetland there wasn't natural.
Morinville council voted 6-0 last week to approve the South Business Commercial (Celtic Lands) area structure plan. They also voted 6-0 to add the "commercial and industrial service district" category to the town's land use bylaw. Mayor Lisa Holmes was absent.
South Glens resident Dolly Bolen urged council to reconsider the proposed changes, and reiterated the proposal she made at the Jan. 27 meeting to turn the lands involved into a wetland park.
"I'm not opposed to business in Morinville at all," she said, noting that she owned a business in town herself, but this plan would affect her quality of life. Likewise, she had no issue with the new proposed definition in the land use bylaw – just its eventual application to this land.
She wanted the town to hold off on approving this project before it had heard about the province's wetland strategy from Alberta Environment officials.
Bolen questioned whether the town had ever assessed the wetland in this area or spoken with any South Glens resident about the area structure plan.
"I believe there has been inadequate consultation with residents of Morinville on this piece of land," she said.
"I am wondering why the town of Morinville holds public hearings if they're not going to take any of the concerns brought forward into consideration."
Council weighs in
The South Business Commercial plan proposes to turn the 15.7 hectares of land south of the town's industrial park, west of South Glens, and east of 100 Street into a mix of commercial and industrial/office space.
The new commercial and industrial service district definition is meant to accommodate development in this region.
Bolen had previously argued that this area was home to an important wetland that should be preserved.
While there was wetland in this area, planning and development director Greg Hofmann said it was not naturally occurring, and was created due to how the land was graded. The land had also been used for farming as recently as 12 years ago, and, as such, was not subject to provincial wetland laws.
"There are no identified or naturally occurring wetlands within the area structure plan planning area," he said.
The town's 2012 municipal development plan, which involved extensive public consultation, designates this area for commercial development, Hoffman said. If the area structure plan didn't reflect that, they'd have to change the MDP to match it.
"In a sense, the die has been cast."
Town staff might not have gone door-to-door surveying South Glens residents about the plan but residents did have a chance to speak to council about it at the public hearing, said Coun. Rob Ladouceur.
"This land is not owned by the town," he said.
"We can't dictate necessarily whether they can or cannot build."
Hofmann pitched the new commercial and industrial service district category as a combination of the business/industrial park and corridor-commercial classes. Unlike the business/industrial park class, this category lets the town place architectural controls on the looks of buildings – significant, as this category had been proposed in anticipation of developments along the south end of 100 Street, which is a major entry-point to Morinville.
"If it's a highly visible area that's at the entrance to the community, you should care what it looks like."
The applicant has agreed with the town's requests to fully construct a proposed vegetative buffer on the east side of the development all at once instead of in stages and to build one big stormwater pond instead of two, Hofmann said.
Ladouceur noted that the plan includes part of a second road into South Glens – one that council heard would improve access to the place by emergency vehicles.
"This is a big opportunity to make that community safer."
The plan must now go through the subdivision and development permit stages before any construction can occur.
