INNISFAIL - A new era of landscaping planning has officially begun for the town's industrial business community.
New landscaping amendments to the Land Use Bylaw (LUB) were officially approved with final readings by town council at its regular meeting on June 11.
The LUB amendments remove the requirement for onsite landscaping on existing industrial lands, most notably in the Westgate Industrial Park where business owners vehemently objected to having 10 per cent of their properties set aside for onsite landscaping, or voluntarily paying cash in lieu of completing landscaping requirements.
The 28-member Westgate Industrial Park Association said it did not make sense to be forced to spend thousands of dollars to beautify an area that was zoned decades ago for industrial lands, and that the cost would create hardship for many property owners. As well, argued association members, the strict requirements would either drive business away from town, or at least deter out-of-town entrepreneurs from moving into the community.
But after successfully lobbying the town, those worries are now over for the association, whose members were clearly pleased on June 11 that the town's new proposals, first presented to council in late April, are now officially approved and will wipe away the threat of any problematic landscaping requirements.
"I don't think there was no other resolution. I'm a very pro-believer in supporting a community. This is a win-win for everybody," said Dennis Wall, a longtime property owner in the industrial park, who noted the origin of the west side industrial park was just pasture land when development began about 20 years ago. "The rules were not established at that time. We are living in a different society now, and now there will be subdivision developments. This was just pasture land that changed into a (industrial) district."
Mayor JIm Romane said when the town does approve future industrial subdivisions they will come with landscaping guidelines, adding it wasn't fair to hit the Westgate park business owners with new and potentially costly landscaping regulations after they had invested so much of their time and money to build a business.
"It was kind of closing the gate after the horses were out. It didn't go over well; lots of opposition," conceded Romane.
The town has changed the LUB to rename existing industrial areas, including Westgate Industrial Park, East Innisfail, and the area occupied by Purina and Stewart Construction. Those areas were previously considered a single land use district for all serviced industrial lands. They will now be classified as Industrial -- Established District. There will be no onsite landscaping requirements for any business in this district, except along major arterial roadways or where parcels are adjacent to non-industrial properties.
The town's former lagoon lands that are earmarked for future industrial use will be re-designated as a new Industrial -- Expansion District and will require a three-metre landscaped strip along all public roadways or non-industrial properties. For future industrial developments, a new Industrial Privately Serviced District classification has been created and it also requires the same three-metre landscaped strip.
As for the visual aesthetics of the existing industrial areas, particularly for Westgate where it faces the west- side town entrance from Highway 54, there were concerns the new landscaping amendments did not consider buffering or aesthetic treatment as was done for other entryways or major corridors, such as 50th Street/Lakewood Drive, 42nd Street, C & E Trail and Highway 2A.
Coun. Doug Bos, who has been a leading voice on council to have better visual aesthetics for main entrances, wondered why businesses facing Highway 54 were exempted in the updated landscaping amendments. He did not buy into staff's contention the existing berm near Highway 54 addressed the issue.
"It doesn't make it look better," said Bos, who promised to remain vigilant about improved entryway aesthetics for the community.
However, Coun. Glen Carritt, a member of the Westgate association, said business owners care about the aesthetics of the industrial park and the town and will cooperate with the bylaw's new landscaping requirements.
