MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY — County council has approved an updated intermunicipal development plan with the Town of Olds, an update that includes a new section regarding landowner consultations.
The plan provides a policy framework for planning matters requiring coordination between the town and county, such as future land uses, environmental matters, and transportation and infrastructure planning.
It also provides processes for ongoing communication, cooperation, decision-making, and dispute resolution related to land use planning matters in the plan area.
The new section in the plan reads as follows: “Either municipality may send referrals or use other means to seek input on planning and development matters from landowners and residents in the other municipality.
“Where either the town or county is required or elects to seek input from landowners or residents in the other municipality, the town or county may use a referral letter to individual landowners or an advertisement in the local newspaper.
“The town and county agree that either of these two approaches is an acceptable means of seeking input from landowners and residents within their respective municipalities by the other municipality.”
The updated plan also includes the removal of a previous section regarding short term annexation. The deleted section reads, in part:
“The short term annexation area shown on map 1 consists of three quarter-sections located in Section 4-33-1-W5, a one mile portion of Rge. Rd.14 along the west side of Section 4.
“No land use bylaw amendments or subdivisions shall be approved for lands within the short term annexation area. Development approvals shall be limited to those allowed under the current designation under the county’s land use bylaw.
“The future intended uses for the short term annexation area, once annexed into the Town (of Olds), are found in the Town of Olds municipal development plan, and consist of commercial and industrial land uses.”
Reeve Angela Aalbers explained the short term annexation section was removed following recent negotiations.
“The Town of Olds and Mountain View County successfully and collaboratively executed the annexation process for these lands and they are now within the Town of Olds municipal borders. There was no longer a need for the short term annexation area as a result,” Aalbers told the Albertan.
The Town of Olds council also recently approved the updated intermunicipal development plan, council heard.
