OLDS — A petition presented to council against plans to allow greater housing density in the proposed Miller Meadows development is invalid, chief administrative officer Brent Williams has ruled.
A report on Williams’ decision was received as information during council’s July 10 meeting. No council member made any comment on the report.
The report was in regard to a petition presented by Judy Douglas, one of about 15 people who spoke during council’s June 26 meeting against changes that would allow the higher density .
After a roughly two-hour public hearing, council voted to approve the changes, saying there’s a desperate need for more affordable housing in the community.
Several added that they could address residents’ concerns about crime, increased traffic and other issues at the planning stage.
In his report, Williams said according to the province’s Municipal Government Act, in order for a petition to be valid, it must contain the signatures of at least 10 per cent of the inhabitants of the municipality.
According to the 2021 census, the population of Olds is 9,209. Therefore, to be valid, the petition would have to have been signed by at least 920 petitioners. It contained only 56 signatures.
Williams also wrote that another requirement under the MGA is that “each signature must be witnessed by an adult person who must sign opposite the signature of the petitioner and take an affidavit that to the best of the person's knowledge, the signatures witnessed are those of (a) person entitled to sign the petition.
“None of the signatures of the petitioners appear to have been witnessed.”
He added that the MGA also requires that to confirm residency, the street address or legal description of the lands on which the petitioner lives must be stated.
“None of the petitioners provided an address which meets the legislative requirements,” Williams wrote.
As a result, council voted to accept Williams’ report as information.
