Mountain View County council has set the public hearing date for the proposed new inter-municipal development plan between the county and the MD of Bighorn.
The plan received first reading during the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
Since December administrations from both municipalities have been working on the inter-municipal development plan and the related inter-municipal collaboration framework.
The purpose of the IDP is to formalize and define the relationship between the two municipalities.
It also sets the policy framework for planning matters that includes future land use, environmental, transportation and items of mutual interest as it applies to land in proximity to the shared boundary and defined in the IDP area.
The IDP area is defined as half a mile on each side of the shared boundary as shown on the IDP maps.
Goals of the plan include the following: maintain local autonomy with each municipality responsible for decision making within their municipal jurisdiction; ensure long-term compatibility of future land use within both municipalities; and recognize that agriculture continues to be the primary use of land in the IDP area and support the preservation of agricultural land except where statutory plans support non-agricultural use.
Opportunities and constraints of the IDP area were examined and included existing statutory plans, zoning, ownership, development, roads, oil and gas, confined feeding operations, and provincial gravel deposits.
Council set May 8 for the public hearing date for consideration of the plan. Coun. Greg Harris did not attend the April 10 council meeting.
