At their regular Council meeting on Tuesday, October 10, Council voted 5-2 to table 2nd and 3rd reading on a land use bylaw rezoning related to land where the proposed mobile home park in Nordegg would be located. The proposed development would be to the east of the Nordegg Fire Hall, down Quarry Road. The land in question is currently zoned Agricultural but would need to be rezoned to Nordegg Manufactured Home District in order to proceed with development.
Following presentation of information by the County’s planning department on the project, Councillor Laing, representative for Nordegg, requested an open house to hear taxpayer concerns and comments prior to voting on 2nd and 3rd reading. She mentioned that with other types of development the County requests the developer to hold such a meeting so it would seem responsible for the County themselves to do likewise. Brief discussion took place before the vote passed to delay the subsequent readings. The public meeting will likely take place in November.
Mobile Home Park Rental Rates
Mr. John Badduke from Pinewoods Estates in the Ferrier area west of Rocky attended the last CCTA meeting to explain the unreasonably high lot rental increases in privately owned mobile home parks in the county. This park was recently purchased by a developer from Abbotsford, BC and he has subsequently increased the lot rentals significantly, with more increases planned. This seems to be a common problem and there are no guidelines/controls to monitor the high rent increases. Mr. Badduke was asking for county resident support for his concerns and will be addressing Council in October to request their support in establishing guidelines to protect mobile home residents. While we note that this is a business matter, it does resemble the issue of foreign investors coming into the Vancouver area, causing housing prices to become unaffordable for local residents and to which the BC government responded by enforcing a tax on foreign investment to alleviate some of the problem.
Current Surveys
There are two surveys currently underway in the County. One is a Senior Needs Survey being conducted jointly by the County, town of Rocky, and the village of Caroline with the assistance of the local Family & Community Support Services. The objective of this survey is to gather information from residents aged 60+ on their wants and needs. The deadline for completion of this survey is October 20, 2019.
The second survey is a Community Recreation Facility Survey that is asking for people’s wants and needs relating to matters mostly surrounding community halls and the recreation facilities there. The deadline for completion of this survey is December 31, 2019.
Both surveys are available for completion on the County’s website or hard copies are available at the County office. Let your voice be heard.
Coming Events
Tuesday, October 15, 2019, 7:00PM, Arbutus Community Hall, Guest speakers from Grassroots Alberta and Friends of Science focusing on the “other” side of the story on climate change. Note earlier start time.
Tuesday, November 19, 2019, 7:30PM, Arbutus Community Hall, AGM
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