ATHABASCA – You will be hearing a lot about Pine Meadow in the coming years, as developers have big plans for the 22-hectare site, about 5.5 km northwest of the Town of Athabasca.
Athabasca County councillors held a public hearing during their Nov. 26 regular meeting before approving an area structure plan for the development of a manufactured home subdivision, that developer Trevor Luscombe (Get Outdoors Inc.) hopes to see it expand over a few years' time. With the approval of the county, the first phase of the project is slated to begin next spring.
The area structure plan was necessary, as per the county’s Municipal Development Plan, to complete the required redistricting of land from agricultural to manufactured home park community, recreational commercial, and county residential cluster districts.
A small mobile home park with seven residents is currently on the site.
“The subdivision is proposed as a bare-land condominium development,” the area structure plan document states. “Each lot would be a unit with the roads as common areas. As a condominium development, the maintenance and repair of the roads and utility services would be the responsibility of the condominium association. From the county’s perspective, this development would essentially be treated as a large single lot.”
The plan includes four phases: redistrict and subdivide the existing 2.73-hectare mobile home park into 14 lots and one park area; then another 0.62 hectares into one commercial lot; followed by another 18.77 hectares into 48 country residential lots, including one larger-sized parcel at 2.23 hectares; then doing the same for two lots to host the existing pump house and a park area.
First reading of the redistricting was approved May 28, and then a second reading on June 25, while councillors approved first reading of the Pine Meadow Area Structure Plan (Bylaw 030-2020) at their Nov. 10 meeting and motioned for a public hearing.
There was only one voice of dissent at the hearing, who worried about dust control, increased noise, traffic and water use, road maintenance, trespassers and thieves. She was also under the impression the development was an RV park.
Pine Meadow's chief financial officer Carissa Lorencz clarified that no RV park was planned, instead the vision was for a residential community.
Coun. Warren Griffin noted later during council discussion that he shared some of the woman’s concerns, but was in favour of the development.
“Had it been an RV park with transients and ATVs and all that, but it’s a busy road and is heavily dust-controlled already,” he said. “It was clarified it’s not an RV park, they’re asking to create a residential community, which means it would be right behind Deer Ridge Estates and Pine Grove, which are residential communities.”
“I think this is a positive move forward,” said Griffin.
Coun. Penny Stewart made sure to clarify the RV question with administration before going ahead.
“If we say it’s for residential places, but when residential places don’t sell, then all of a sudden, they’re one-acre lots and I want to plop my RV right there, that can happen, correct?”
County manager Ryan Maier confirmed it could.
