Okotoks’ industrial park is open for more business.
Council voted on Jan. 13 to amend the permitted uses in its industrial (I3) district, a list that was formerly tighter due to an agreement limiting uses on the lands, which were once occupied by a sour gas plant owned by Nexen, now China North Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC).
In 2008, the land was donated to the Town subject to the condition a restrictive covenant be registered on title to protect Nexen from future liability resulting from use of the lands. It limited the use of lands to a very specific list of uses.
“Over the years the owners of leasable space in the I3 district have reported difficulty in securing tenants due to the limited number of uses in that I3 district,” said Okotoks planner Michelle Grenwich.
The land in question covers most of the Okotoks Business Park on the east and west side of 32 Street, including the land Seaman Stadium stands on, though the ball park falls under direct control.
In fall 2019, the Town renegotiated its agreement with CNOOC to further clarify land use restrictions and have a list of activities not permitted on the land, rather than a strict outline of allowable businesses, she said.
Uses not permitted on the site of the former sour gas plant include residential dwelling units, schools, hospitals, food grown in the ground, childcare, and other care facilities, she said.
It does allow for light and medium industrial uses with limited commercial and retail.
“Light and medium industrial uses deemed to have minimal external impacts have been moved or added to the permitted use category to promote the industrial focus of the district,” said Grenwich.
Those could include automotive service and repair, laboratories, utility buildings, warehousing, offices and public parking lots.
Any industrial use with the potential for heavy traffic or other impacts on surrounding neighbours were added as discretionary uses. These include businesses such as entertainment, drinking or eating establishments, veterinary services, brewery or cannabis production or distribution facilities, convenience stores or dry cleaning facilities, among others.
“[They] have been added to the discretionary use category to allow for consideration of the scale and intensity of the use, to allow identification, mitigation of any kind of impacts to adjacent land uses through the development permit process,” said Grenwich.
Although retail stores were considered as potential uses in the I3 district, she said it’s not recommended to add them as it would take away land from the light and medium density industrial use the Town hopes to focus on in the area.
“Though not proposed as a principle use in the district, retail stores can still be accommodated as an accessory component to many of the existing and proposed uses in the district,” said Grenwich.
Stemming from its review of the I3 district, the Town will make necessary changes to its land use bylaw, she said.
“It is intended as an interim measure to stimulate business growth in the area until the comprehensive rewrite of the land use bylaw is completed,” said Grenwich.
Coun. Tanya Thorn said she was pleased to see the bylaw come forward to open the doors to more business uses in the I3 district.
“This is something our business community has been pushing for a long time, for changes in this particular district, so I’m really excited to see this come to fruition,” she said.
