By Stephen Dafoe
Sturgeon County – Council unanimously approved first reading of a series of amendments to Sturgeon County’s Land Use Bylaw.
Planning and Development Manager Colin Steffes said 55 changes were being proposed due to a combination of typing and grammatical errors in the existing document as well as items and terminologies that need to be clarified. “This is something that is overdue,” Steffes said at the Apr. 24 council meeting, noting the bylaw is typically reviewed every year or every two years. “We want to get it addressed to help our administration provide more consistency.”
Steffes said the proposed changes are the first stage of changes to the Land use Bylaw and that more work will be done in conjunction with work being done with the County’s Municipal Development Plan.
County Councillor Tom Flynn said he wanted to see some space between first reading and the public hearing necessary prior to second and third reading of the amendments. “To review all these pieces, we’d be here until supper time,” Flynn said, adding the time will allow councillors time to wrap their heads around the proposed changes.
Mayor Don Rigney said he’d support first reading but saw some things in the amendments that could indicate substantive changes to the Land Use Bylaw.
A public hearing will be schedules sometime after Council’s summer recess.
