Town administration agreed to a request by a group of 18 neighbouring residents in Lake Ridge that their concerns with meat smoking being operated out of a residence there be responded to within 10 days of the group making the presentation. The group attended town council's meeting on May 24.
Mary Anne Stroshin, who spoke for the group, said Brent Kolb has expanded a meat smoking business beyond a hobby — in contravention of an April 29 Subdivision Development Appeal Board decision that refused a development permit for the commercial smoking of meats at 20 Lake Ridge.
Stroshin said the residents have gone through all the appropriate steps to shut down the operation, which they believe interferes with the personal enjoyment of their own properties.
Stroshin said Kolb is holding town officials, neighbours and everyone else in town in lower regard than himself by refusing to comply with Municipal Planning Commission and SDAB decisions.
“The 18 residents in the Lake Ridge community cannot understand why the town refuses to close his business down. He does not have a business licence, he does not have approval for anything that he is doing, and you as town officials do nothing. You let one person dictate to you what he is going to do, at the expense of 18 other households and the adjacent properties in the area,” Stroshin said.
“We feel that the mayor, the councillors, the bylaw enforcement officers have all let us down. He is operating as if (the SDAB decision) doesn't matter,” she said.
Norm McInnis, the town's chief administrative officer, said some of the residents opposed to Kolb's activities had visited his office previously and deserved action on the part of council and administration within the group's 10-day request.
Mayor Judy Dahl told the group that council has done its due diligence on the matter but would take up the residents' concerns. Stroshin said Kolb's residential garage had been renovated to turn it into a commercial operation.
“He's just not doing this as a hobby,” she said.
Following the presentation, Dahl said town staff would be following up on the claims made by the residents.
“The Town of Olds has to be very careful in regards to confirming … the (accusations) because we don't have sound enough proof yet. If (Kolb) is going ahead and performing a business out of there, then we have to step in because his application was denied,” she said.
Kolb did not attend the meeting in person. When reached about the issue last week, he declined to comment.
