ATHABASCA - An application to re-zone a quarter section northwest of Wandering River from agricultural to recreational commercial was rejected by Athabasca County council last week, after a public hearing that included seven objections from area residents on the planned Land Use Bylaw (LUB) amendment.
The public hearing for an amendment to the county’s LUB took place July 14 via Zoom as council considered Bylaw 016-2020, which would see the construction of a security suite and additional worker accommodations adjacent to a campground that was opened in 2015.
The 40-minute public hearing was followed by an 80-minute discussion later in the council meeting that ended with a 6-3 vote against the amendment on second reading. The recorded vote saw Coun. Dwayne Rawson, Coun. Doris Splane and Coun. Warren Griffin vote in favour.
The development permit for the 30-site campground was approved under the previous LUB and as such would have to conform with the new LUB for the proposed additions to be considered. Since there is no campground use allowed in an agricultural district, the bylaw would have to be amended and the land re-zoned to recreational commercial.
County manager Ryan Maier read aloud seven different objection letters from nearby residents as well as a letter of support from the applicants.
Many of the concerns about the development were focussed on the amount of agricultural land being used to accommodate private campgrounds. Some also raised issues regarding the amount of traffic that is already in area as a result of nearby campgrounds as well as a lack of recreational opportunities, which leads to security concerns for residents. The ATVs rule the road, said one submission.
Another even called for a moratorium on all campground development until the state of infrastructure in the area can catch up to the population that already exists there, without large influxes every season that strains the condition of roads, and increases usage of the area garbage dump and the amount of water used.
The lack of any kind of permanent sewer system was also brought up several times, which was a condition, along with security, of the 2015 agreement that approved the campground.
The applicants’ submission noted they have been acting as security and staying in an RV, but would like a more permanent structure.
The submission, read by Maier, noted the applicants had no intention of expanding their 30-stall campground, which they said is used mostly by friends and family and is not a commercial operation and is not open to the public.
The letter also mentioned they have been working to install an onsite sanitation facility, but have run into issues with several contractors and have been using a temporary tank that is hauled out via vacuum truck.
Coun. Penny Stewart made her own objections to the amendment clear early on in the discussion and moved a motion to go to second reading. While this particular application isn’t for the expansion of the campground, re-zoning the land would make that expansion possible, she said.
“After hearing everybody today and their concerns, I am not in favour of re-zoning because that means there is a lot of room for expansion,” she said.
Coun. Dennis Willcott agreed.
“After all the people sent letters in and spoke this morning, I gotta say I feel kind of bad because there is getting to be too many campgrounds and I guess this is one place we could stop it,” he said. “Eventually, we do have to put a stop to these campgrounds.”
Coun. Doris Splane said that while she may not be in favour of expanding the size of current campgrounds, there was value in re-zoning for recreational use. She also questioned whether the county put the applicants in this position when they changed the previous Land Use Bylaw.
“I know if I had a quarter section and I was looking at it as a long-term family retreat area, I would like to be able to use that land, not necessarily for more campers, but for walking trails, or quadding and staying off the public lands,” she said.
Stewart then reiterated the applicants have “been in contravention of the conditions of their permit since 2015” due to their lack of a sewage system.
Coun. Christi Bilsky said the decision was “cut and dry” in her eyes, and said she would vote against second reading of the amendment.
Before the vote was called, Coun. Travais Johnson added there needs to be a better way to handle such applications while not limiting peoples’ livelihoods.
“These things are always very complicated and stressful in my thinking … We need to come up with a better solution to handle these,” he said.
The county has also scheduled three more public hearings regarding the development of private campgrounds for Aug. 11.
Bylaw 019-2020 seeks a similar re-zoning from agricultural to recreational commercial to expand a campground at SW 29-71-16-W4, and Bylaw 020-2020 seeks to do the same thing at SE 25-71-17-W4. Bylaw 021-2020 seeks re-zoning of a light industrial and agriculture district to recreational commercial to develop a small campground at SW 31-66-22-W4.
Chris Zwick, TownandCountryToday.com
