The Town of Okotoks has found the petition against the Homestead project tiny home ecovillage sufficient, according to the Municipal Government Act’s (MGA) criteria.
Council can choose to pass the bylaw stated in the petition, or trigger a plebiscite within 90 days of the first reading.
The petition calls for council to "immediately stop the ratepayer funded portion of the project... and immediately rescind the agreement to use ratepayer-owned land, dollars, capital and operating funds or any other in kind/lieu concessions for the Homestead project."
However, it had to be reviewed.
“Because petitions have authority to direct council’s actions on municipal bylaws, administration is required to review them to ensure they meet all the MGA requirements for sufficiency,” explained Okotoks CAO Elaine Vincent in a press release. “Although municipalities have 45 days to complete the review once a petition is submitted, we have been able to complete it in 19 days, allowing the petition to be considered at the Aug. 19 council meeting.”
Naydene Lewis, petitioner representative for the Okotoks Ratepayers Community Group, shared the letter she received on Aug. 15 confirming validity with the Western Wheel.
In the case of Okotoks, according to the 2018 census showing a population of 29,002, the petition needed 2,900 signatures.
Sections 222 through 226 of the MGA were applied to deem sufficiency, which apply three criteria: petitions must be signed by electors equal to 10 per cent of the population; the petition must have a valid statement that can be incorporated in a new bylaw, relates to matters within the municipal jurisdiction and does not include requests relating to taxation, planning and development, financial administration, or intermunicipal collaboration; and each signature must be witnessed and an affidavit completed for each person who acted as witness.
According to the letter, the petition as submitted contained 3,167 signatures. After applying provisions of sections 224 and 225 of the MGA, 158 signatures were removed. A further 28 signatures were removed due to not being “legally entitled to vote in Okotoks.”
The final number of signatures came to 2,981, making the petition “therefore considered sufficient.”
A report on the sufficiency will be presented at the Aug. 19 council meeting, where a bylaw will be provided for council’s consideration.
Council can choose to pass the bylaw, or fix a date within 90 days after the bylaw receives first reading for a vote of the electors.
