Mountain View County council has given first reading to a bylaw that if passed would allow for the expansion of the federally-licensed and regulated medical marijuana facility north of Cremona.
The move came during the recent regularly scheduled council meeting. Aurora's facility is located west of Highway 22 about five kilometres north of the village.
The bylaw would allow an 89-acre parcel located immediately beside the existing facility to be redesignated from agricultural district to direct control.
It would also redesignate a nearby 57-acre parcel from agricultural district to agricultural 2 district.
Administration has received 11 letters of objection to the proposed redesignation. In a briefing note to council, administration said concerns raised in the letters include the following (quoted from letters):
• Arising issues include drinking water, sewage, safety, traffic and drainage problems.
• Water use is a big concern – the original company was going to collect water from their current 50,000-foot building. This did not meet their requirements and built a dugout. This is the first year in 18 years that the seasonal creek running through the property has been dry.
• Excessive lighting, noise and congestion from a 24/7 operation.
• Privacy and safety issues – large scale industrial operation. The proposal runs the risk of becoming an industrial zone.
• concern about the disturbance to environmentally sensitive riparian area and the increase of noise and traffic.
• It seems Aurora will pay very little tax to Mountain View County. What is the real benefit in allowing such a huge expansion on valuable farm land? This is the wrong location for this business.
After giving first reading to the redesignation bylaw, councillors set Nov. 23 at the date for the related public hearing.
In other news, councillors have given first reading to amendments to the land use bylaw regarding penalties and fees related to development.
The proposed amendment would remove the following section from the bylaw: “Where development has proceeded without the necessary permits, the following fees shall be applied, in addition to the regular application fees: a 100 per cent of the offense penalty fees for complaint driven applications as per Mountain View County's fee schedule bylaw with a date stated to initiate compliance, plus application fees.”
The section would be replaced by the following: “Where development has proceeded without the necessary permits, the penalty fees shall be applied, in addition to the regular application fees. Penalty fees may be waived if the application is submitted within the deadline on the warning notice or other correspondence to advise of non-compliant development or for voluntary applications.”
In a background briefing note to council, administration said, “Implementing penalty fees is often a challenge for administration on non-compliant development. Non-compliant development is frequently brought to the attention of the development department as a result of, but not limited to, complaints.
“Convincing an applicant to apply for a development permit when faced with a penalty fee and an application fee is challenging and a compatible working relationship is difficult.”
After giving first reading to the amending bylaw, council set November 23 as the date for the related public hearing.
