County of Vermilion River (CVR) residents packed Kitscoty Community Hall as they voiced their opposition to proposed changes to a pair of bylaws.
Read more: CVR hosts next land use bylaw public session
The county is working to update the land use bylaw (LUB) and the municipal development plan (MDP).
Area residents filled Kitscoty Hall to have their voices heard over proposed changes.
“I am on what was agricultural land, what was divided off, and we have approximately 28 acres. It was agricultural,” said one concerned resident. “I don’t know why it was redistricted country residential and now I have a letter that says it’s going to agriculture, and I don’t know where it’s at.”
The event was moderated by former Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke.
Residents spoke on a number of different issues and had the opportunity to ask questions to council and administration. People expressed an interest in forming their own committee to give commentary on the proposed bylaw changes to be more involved in the process.
Others spoke to the government overreach. Some voiced concerns about losing freedom to do what they want with the property they own.
Reeve Marty Baker had concern of some of the information surrounding the bylaw.
“There’s a lot of misconceptions out there, misinformation through social media and such,” he said. “We have all the people that can give the right information, so we hope to get that out to our residents so they fully understand what we’re trying to do here.
“Most of what I’ve been hearing is misconceptions and things that just aren’t true, like a county resident isn’t going to be allowed to have a garden anymore. Or they can’t have a barbed wire fence on their agricultural property, these kinds of things.”
He says these kinds of public hearings give them an opportunity to connect with the community so they can explain the proposed changes and better understand how residents feel, while answering any questions they may have.
The LUB and MDP have gone through a number of changes.
“It gets amended so often,” said Baker. “What we’re trying to do here is, the draft is more of an update because there’s some things needing to be updated. The Hamlet of Dewberry has come into the county since then. We’ve had with Lloydminster the annexation that happened a few years ago.”
A big step for the county was making the bylaw more digestible.
“Plus, it’s trying to simplify it for our residents,” said Baker. “We’ve taken a 500-some page document and made it into a 200-page document.”
The next steps will be discussed at the next council meeting.
“We’ll get the information compiled here and bring it back to (the next) council meeting,” he said. “It’s transparent and all of our residents can hear it and then council discussed it, debate it, and then we’ll talk about next steps.”
There is also a municipal election looming in Alberta, which was an issue raised multiple times throughout the public hearing.
If a county resident does have concerns or questions about the bylaw answers are just a phone call away.
“They can call our office, they can call any of their councillors or they can call myself,” said Baker.
Read more: Skills Canada competition builds student confidence
You didn’t really cover the true “outrage” from the people….
This is a gross sugar coating
“There’s a lot of misconceptions out there”.
In other words: the councilors who do not understand the bylaw – are the smart people: the citizens are the stupid people
The citizens had alot more to say and really put council in their place!