Foggy, freezing weather and snow-drifted roads took their toll on the first Mountain View County councillor open house of the season, held at Carstairs Community Centre Thursday night.The event drew fewer than a dozen and a half people.ìI'm very disappointed, but what do you do?î Div. 1 Coun. Kevin Good said.ìPeople who came were happy with the atmosphere, I think.îThere were no formal presentations at the open house and most of those who did show stuck around for lengthy, relaxed discussions with Good, CAO Tony Martens and Div. 7 Coun. Al Kemmere, who also attended.One of the goals of the spring open houses is to collect county residents' opinions on the current MVC Municipal Development Plan review, and Good said some of the feedback was surprising.Asked to indicate the preferred density range for serviced residential developments in growth centres, eight respondents chose 70 to 80 lots, while six people said six to 10 lots were ample.The question was prefaced with text explaining that a county study on the economics of servicing residential development with piped water and sewer concluded the cost to the developer would require a minimum of 60 lots.The preamble, Good suggested, should also have informed participants that residential development is a net drain on the county tax base, though he acknowledged there was no cost-analysis available to back up that claim.On the number of subdivisions that should be allowed on a quarter section, four respondents said there should be no more subdivisions, seven said 1-2 lots, and five selected three or more lots.On the maximum total amount of land that should be removed for country-residential parcels, three respondents said three acres, 10 respondents said four acres and one respondent said five acres.On the maximum number of country-residential lots that should be permitted on a quarter section, four people said one lot, four people said two lots, and four people said five lots.On the maximum number of ag parcels that should be permitted on a quarter section, three people said one parcel and eight people said two parcels.On the minimum size of ag parcels, eight people said 10-20 acres, three people said 20-40 acres and one person said 60-80 acres.One participant told the Gazette that the questions were flawed because they did not factor in specifics of individual properties, making the exercise too much a ìcookie-cutter approach.îThe next councillor open house, for Reeve Paddy Munro in Div. 6, will be held this Wednesday, March 30 at Harmattan Community Hall. It runs from 7-9 p.m.
