WESTLOCK — The Summer Village of Larkspur wants to purchase a 22-acre property near their northeastern border, but Westlock County councillors worry that it’s not yet clear what’ll happen to the property.
They postponed their decision for another time, possible a special meeting since this issue is time sensitive for Larkspur because the land is for sale and there are other interested buyers.
Larkspur mayor Greg Drechsler and deputy mayor Gerry Keane made their case in front of council July 14. The property they intend to buy, owned by a family with a “long and valued relationship with the summer village,” will be kept in its natural state, they said.
“We’re not asking you to buy it, we’re purchasing it ourselves, but what we’re asking for you to do is say ‘Yes’ at the end of this presentation,” Keane told councillors.
That same family, in the original 1960 purchase, Keane said, had also bought the land on which the village later developed. But they kept one lot for themselves, and left the 22 acres undeveloped.
“We do not want to do anything to it, ever,” said Keane, to honour the original owners.
The original purchaser was also one of the village’s first councillors — the names were redacted in the presentation that the county published in its agenda package for the meeting.
But county councillors took issue with the village’s intentions to keep the land “in its raw state” and prevent future development, because, as some said, it’s not clear how that can be achieved.
“This is a very, very complex question that you brought here,” said Coun. Dennis Primeau.
Council’s initial questions had to do with the village’s procedures in maintaining it as a no-development zone: will there be a caveat on the land title, is it an issue of jurisdiction—who can and can’t authorize preservation—and what about future ownership and intent?
“Twenty years down the road, there might be different people wanting different things,” said reeve Lou Hall.
Keane’s answer: a lawyer can advise them on how they can preserve it for the future.
But for Coun. Jared Stitsen, it’s not just a matter of preserving the “little haven that they’ve created.”
“We’re looking for development in Westlock County, we’re looking for more subdivisions. For us to sit as council here and go ‘Whoa, we’re not going to let anything coming in because this is their little special area…’ Who are we to stop the rest of the residents,” said Stitsen.
For Primeau, it’s not exactly the lack of development that’s at issue. Instead, it’s the purchase itself.
Coun. Isaac Skuban was of the opinion that “either way, it’s going to get developed.”
As a matter of technicality, the purchase won’t lead to an incorporation of the land into the summer village. It’ll still fall under the jurisdiction of Westlock County.
No decision was reached at the meeting. Councillors decided to bring this forward another time, during a special meeting since there’s a time constraint on the matter.
