A handful of rural Leduc County residents are displeased, an industrial development is looking to amend its land use bylaw and rezone from agricultural district to direct control.
A public hearing was held during council’s June 7 meeting, and the nearby landowners, as well as the applicant are in limbo until July 5 while council recesses the matter due to an administrative oversight.
Al Terra Engineering’s site is located just over a kilometer from the City of Leduc’s west boundary and proper procedure dictates the city be offered an opportunity to consult on the issue and present its own relevant information; this did not happen before the hearing took place.
Applicant Connor Smith told council this development is different from others of its kind because of what he and the landowner, Sean Judd, are looking to include in the development. “We’re limiting the site to exactly what we want,” said Smith.
He is looking to restrict building site coverage to 15 per cent, less than the norm, and restrict outdoor storage to 10 per cent of the site.
The range of proposed land uses under the bylaw include accessory building; limited, general and indoor contract services; detached dwelling; outdoor storage, warehousing and storage; sign; and minor utility service.
Council is already looking to remove general contractor service and dwelling from the list because it does not feel those two uses are appropriate for the location. Canadian Pacific Rail also does not support a dwelling use for the site because of the rail access in the area.
Smith says both he and Judd are willing to remove those uses from the application.
Coun. Tanni Doblanko asked if a road agreement would be set,wherein the company would help subsidize the costs of road damage caused by vehicle traffic Al Terra Engineering brought to the area.
Smith says it could be looked at but he informed council a traffic report he had done indicated there will be no adverse affects to the roads due to the development.
When questioned about dust abatement practices Smith answered: a stop sign near the Al Terra Engineering entrance will keep vehicles under 20 km/h and help keep the dust down. However, he added it is something he and Judd are open to if needed.
Doblanko also is not happy with 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. operation hours, as she feels it will negatively impact the lives of those living in the area.
Landowners who spoke at the public hearing mentioned similar concerns, including noise and water pollution, light pollution from industrial yard lights, contaminated runoff, road damage, property values and quality of life.