Turner Valley’s planning co-ordinator is confident administration is on the right track after hearing feedback from citizens on proposed amendments to its Land Use Bylaw last week.
“I think we had a pretty good read on where people’s heads are at in relation to our proposed amendments,” said Gerry Melenka. “Nobody has brought anything new to us or said, ‘You’re completely off base on this.’ I think we’ve had a pretty good idea of what the town wants.”
The Town hosted open houses Sept. 18 and 19 that invited citizens to give input on suggested amendments to rules and regulations regarding various sections of the bylaw such as development, parking, signage, landscaping and setbacks.
Council directed administration to amend the bylaw, which was created in 2003 and has had several amendments since, to simplify the language, update sections and address recent issues.
A survey on the Town’s website seeks further feedback before administration formalizes the bylaw with all of the amendments and puts it to council in about a month for first reading, said Melenka.
“We definitely got good feedback,” he said. “We will take the feedback we received and work with it the best we can.”
Prior to second reading later this fall, administration will bring the bylaw forward for a public hearing.
For the open houses, administration extracted sections that were most relevant and affected residents the most, and the ones they felt were of most concern or interest to businesses, said Melenka.
A proposed change that received a lot of feedback was more suggested uses in commercial and industrial zones, like medical clinics, outdoor cafes, farmers markets and specialty foods, said Melenka.
“A lot of people were shocked we didn’t have farmers markets for use in any district,” he said. “We’re inviting the public to list other possible land uses on the survey. It helps the user down the road because if it’s already there they don’t have to go through redesignation.”
Among the most popular proposals were reducing rules and regulations around home based businesses, of which the proposed bylaw suggests categorizing in three levels, and secondary suites, in which administration experienced a push towards in recent years, said Melenka.
“A fair amount of individuals supported them, but they didn’t want them in their neighbourhood,” he said of both.
Glenn Costello, one of the 16 people who attended the open houses, wanted to learn about the Town’s proposals for secondary suites.
“I do believe there is a place for them, but not everywhere in Turner Valley,” he said. “Right now Turner Valley is wide open to secondary suites. (The proposal is) making it easier for secondary suites.”
Costello said while there’s a need for more affordable housing, he suggested secondary suites not be allowed in upper scale neighbourhoods.
“People move into those for a reason,” he said. “There are certain areas we should have them and maybe not others.”
From his own experience living in Calgary, Costello found some renters didn’t respect property.
He’s also concerned about one suggested change that removes the rule that owners of secondary suites must live in Turner Valley.
“The bylaw (as proposed) will change that and that money will not be invested into the town,” he said. “They’ve made everything so much simpler. That’s what concerns me. I feel they lessoned all the requirements.”
Shay Ford, who attended on Sept. 18, said she has a piece of property she would eventually like to turn into a secondary suite and is happy with what administration presented.
She said she’s also satisfied with questions asked on a series of forms on topics like tiny homes, food trucks, RV storage and daycares in residential areas.
“I think they’re on the right track,” she said. “These types of questions are really important for long term planning.”
One question asked for input on Sea-Can shipping containers in residential and commercial areas after administration received a push for the structures in both areas, said Melenka.
“For residential it was a clear 'no',” he said. “In the commercial it seemed to be a mix of, ‘We don’t want to take away the look and feel of downtown’ and others said, ‘You can dress those up.’ It seemed to be a pretty clear message that nobody wants to see Quonsets in commercial zones moving forward.”
Melenka said a full rewrite of the Land Use Bylaw is required, yet it can occur only following annexation and the revision of the Intermunicipal Development Plan, Intermunicipal Collaborative Framework and the Municipal Development Plan in conjunction with neighbouring Black Diamond.
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