Foothills residents will be asked to provide input on proposed updates to the County’s land-use bylaw this spring.
The changes were requested by council in December with the intent to reduce red tape and provide more clear language on land-use information sheets.
Notable amendments to the bylaw include adding agricultural district to permitted land types for home-based business. There is also more general language suggested on allowing for abattoirs, or slaughter houses, and the on-farm slaughter provisions in the bylaw.
Coreena Carr, planner for Foothills County, said it follows the legislation under Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, which permits landowners to conduct on-farm slaughter and processing activities on their property or sell an animal to someone to slaughter, so long as it is done humanely and safely, and the meat is inspected prior to sale or distribution.
“It would enable on-farm slaughter processing activities on the licence-holder’s site,” said Carr.
According to Foothills County, there are no known on-farm slaughter licence holders in the municipality to date.
In addition, there are some more general amendments coming forward in the proposed changes to the County’s land-use bylaw.
The first is to provide a variance for the renewal of permits for temporary dwellings such as mobile homes.
“If the mobile home now was older than 2007, it wouldn’t allow us to grant a renewal, so we’ve added a variance for that,” said Carr.
Another change is to allow temporary storage units, such as SeaCans sometimes used for moving or renovation work, without development permits required if they are on-site for 60 days or less within a year.
“It was a request we seem to get on a regular basis,” said Carr.
There has also been an increase to the maximum square-footage allowed without a development permit for private garages on agricultural lands, she said.
“That was a lot of to do with the number of oversized private garage applications we were getting, in an attempt to reduce some of the development permit numbers,” said Carr.
Public consultation will take place in the coming week ahead of a public hearing on the amendments, which is anticipated for the end of April.
For more information visit www.foothillscountyab.ca.
