ATHABASCA - A series of public hearings for Athabasca County councillors to consider three separate Land Use Bylaw amendments for the purpose of creating more campsites in the county took place Aug. 11, but only one of the applications was successful.
Two applications near Wandering River were voted down with Bylaw 019-2020, regarding an expansion of the existing 50-stall campground by 12-15 stalls at SW 9-71-16-4 being defeated before third reading, and Bylaw 020-2020 meeting the same fate with a vote against the development of a 20-stall campground at SE 25-71-17-4.
Amendments to the LUB to rezone the land in question from agricultural to recreational commercial had to pass for the developments to move forward.
The third proposed amendment was approved unanimously though. Bylaw 021-2020 amends the LUB for a portion of SW 31-66-22-4, about six kilometers north of Athabasca, to be rezoned from light industrial and agricultural to recreational commercial to develop an eight-stall campground to accommodate workers year-round.
The applicant’s submission spoke of the financial aspect of having campers come to the area and his hiring of local contractors, both of which spur the local economy. He also talked about the road conditions, crime and enforcement, and the rules that campers are required to sign off on.
There was only one letter opposed to the development, but it was later rescinded as it was mistakenly read and meant for the previous two hearings regarding the Wandering River sites.
Campsites in Wandering River
Opposition from residents of Wandering River was organized and strong, with 22 submissions, whether written or via Zoom, to speak against the first amendment and only the applicant to speak in favour. Councillors Dwayne Rawson, Dennis Willcott and Doris Splane voted to proceed with the amendment, but were defeated 6-3.
The concerns were the same for both bylaws, and had been brought up at previous public hearings for similar bylaw amendments to allow for more campgrounds near Wandering River.
Those opposed spoke of increased vehicle and ATV traffic and lacking infrastructure to handle the influx of campers that arrive in the summer. Many are also concerned about increased crimes such as trespassing and a minimal law enforcement and emergency services presence.
Others spoke of their country lifestyle being disturbed and many more called for an all-out moratorium on such amendments to rezone agricultural districts for the development or expansion of campgrounds.
Others still, spoke of the division the issue is causing in the community.
Many of the same residents, 19 of them, expressed their disapproval with the second amendment as well, but there were 14 submissions, including the applicant, to speak in favour of the development.
The life-long resident of the area, spent some time describing his background and his plans for the land to go along with the proposed 20 full-service stalls. He addressed how he would deal with utilities, garbage disposal, off-highway vehicles and traffic, but also told council about future plans to provide more recreation opportunities and services, like a driving range, mini-golf and a concession.
That would create investment in the area, not only by himself, but others as well, which provides jobs, which stimulates economic growth, and attracts even more investment.
Councillors Rawson, Willcott and Splane were joined by Coun. Warren Griffin to vote to proceed with the bylaw amendment, but were defeated 5-4. Councillors Christi Bilsky, Kevin Haines, Penny Stewart and Travais Johnson voted not to proceed with either of the amendments, along with reeve Larry Armfelt.
The discussion
Council has seen similar amendment proposals for campgrounds near Wandering River at their last few meetings, and each public hearing has ended with council voting not to proceed to the third and final reading.
Wandering River area Coun. Penny Stewart has been consistently vocal in her opposition to all the proposed developments in her area and would ideally like to see an audit conducted to determine first, how many campgrounds are operating in the county, both legally and illegally, and the true state of infrastructure in the area.
“I think we’ve heard the community loud and clear again today. I think we do have some work to do there as a county, but I don’t know the extent of the units up there,” she said. “We can’t paint them all with the same brush, some are very well run, but it’s way more than that.”
She went on to encourage councillors to go for a drive in the area and see what is happening for themselves.
“They’re everywhere.”
Coun. Travais Johnson added he thought it would be in the best interests of the county and all involved to meet to try to find a solution to the concerns before moving forward.
“I think we need to press pause and stop these right now and have a meeting with campground owners and the ratepayers there to see if we can come up with some kind of solution to the problems, because right now, if we approve it, we’re just causing strife between the residents. You can see it starting already.”
Coun. Kevin Haines agreed: “We’ve heard from a lot of the locals up there, and there are issues there that we need to deal with … I think we have work to do and I think we should press pause.”
Coun. Dennis Willcott expressed his concern about pressing pause at this point because council had already voted against similar amendments at previous meetings.
Coun. Doris Splane agreed with Willcott, saying it was unfortunate the previous proposals were not allowed to go to third reading.
Stewart replied she wants to remain consistent and vote down the proposals until such time as council decides they’re going to move forward with addressing ratepayers’ concerns.
Coun. Dwayne Rawson said he was in favour of development because of the economic spin-off for the area and warned council to be careful what they wish for in regards to asking the RCMP for more patrols of the area as that could distract from other law enforcement activities in the area.
Coun. Warren Griffin, who voted in favour of proceeding with one development but not the other, weighed in as well.
“I don’t want to say no to development, but there are obviously issues up there in Wandering River and so, as much as I know Dennis and Doris have concerns about having defeated second reading, I think that is how you get a pause,” he said. “It gives us 12 months before they can apply again. It’s not killing it outright; it’s just saying they can re-apply in 12 months and puts us on the clock to get down to business and figure it out.”
There will be three more Land Use Bylaw amendments before council at its Aug. 27 meeting, with public hearings beginning at 9:30 a.m. via Zoom.
Chris Zwick,TownandCountryToday.com
