Bulldogger Tyler Wilkinson of Kinuso battles to find some traction during the steer wrestling event at the Millarville Rodeo on Friday evening. Near record crowds attended this year’s event. See Sports Sec. II for complete results. photo by John Barlow |
Turnout low at smoking bylaw open house
By Pamela Keith
staff reporter
Many were expecting an inferno at the open houses for Okotoks’ anti-smoking bylaw, but the first meeting resulted in merely a puff of smoke.
The first of two scheduled open houses last Thursday , attracted six residents in total, which included a mix of non-smokers, smokers and business owners, at the Okotoks Fire Station – an attendance number that surprised town administration.
“We were a little bit disappointed. We would have liked to have seen more people,” said town spokesperson Nancy Weigel. “There certainly has been a number of letters to council, so we were expecting more people would show up.”
Aside from a draft of the anti-smoking bylaw, which would ban smoking in all public places, a separate option entitled, a smoking control bylaw, was also presented to the public.
The smoking control bylaw would allow business owners to choose if they would like to go smoke free, providing they have a separate smoking enclosure.
According to Okotoks Coun. Laurie Cherkowski, more municipalities in BC, such as White Rock and New Westminster, are reversing the 100 per cent ban on smoking in public places and allowing approved smoking enclosures as a result of public demand.
The smoking enclosures would allow smokers to smoke (within the premises), but no serving staff would have to enter the enclosure, eliminating the inhalation of second hand smoke by employees or other patrons.
“It’s really, in my opinion, the best of both worlds,” said Cherkowski, who introduced the notice of motion for the smoking control bylaw.
In 2006, the Town of Okotoks conducted a household survey, which revealed 80 per cent of respondents were very supportive of an anti-smoking bylaw, 11 per cent were somewhat supportive and seven per cent were not at all in favour.
As a result of that survey, the town proposed an anti-smoking bylaw, which was defeated in December with a tie vote. Council, however, was recently able to bring the issue back to the table after amending the procedure bylaw in February, paving the way for the draft of the anti-smoking bylaw.
Before any decisions are made in relation to butting out, the town hopes to collect as much information from the public as possible about the proposed bylaw.
A second open house is planned for Wednesday at the same location from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. This time Weigel is hoping, and expecting, more people to attend.
“We want some feedback specifically from the community on more details than what was provided in the survey,” said Weigel. “We want to know if they support a smoke-free community or perhaps a staged implementation or a smoke-free room.”
A number of communities throughout Alberta have already adapted an anti-smoking bylaw, including Edmonton, Red Deer, Whitecourt, High River and most recently Calgary.
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Okotoks
opposes
subdivision
BY JOHN BARLOW
EDITOR
A proposed subdivision that would include 300 homes in the MD of Foothills just west of the town limits has resulted in staunch opposition from the Town of Okotoks.
Last Thursday a public hearing was held at the Foothills MD council chambers in High River for the area structure plan and redesignation of 419 acres to facilitate the development of Sandstone Springs. The proposal, which is on land owned by Joseph Drisdale would include 230 residential lots for single family homes and another 70 patio homes in a bareland condominium project.
Although the proposal did not result in much opposition from neighbouring landowners, Okotoks Mayor Bill McAlpine said the town is vehemently against the proposal due to its potential impact on Okotoks’ water and infrastructure.
“We are concerned about a major subdivision on our outskirts and how it will impact the town’s recreational facilities, traffic on Big Rock Trail and it is upstream of our water supply what are they going to do with their waste water and will their water needs impact flow in the Sheep River,” said McAlpine.
“This is a high density subdivision right on the border of our community and that worries us, plain and simple,” added McAlpine. “And this is just the first one.”
The Town of Okotoks submitted a letter of concern to the MD of Foothills in regards to the Sandstone proposal and asked the MD council to postpone last Thursday’s public hearing until both councils have had an opportunity to discuss the proposal. Okotoks council stated they believe the Sandstone proposal does not conform to the Intermunicipal Development Plan that both councils agreed upon.
“(The applications) do not, in our view, conform to the mutually agreed to principles for residential development with the Town of Okotoks/MD of Foothills Intermunicipal Development Plan which makes for provision within portions of the IDP plan area surrounding Okotoks for relatively low density country residential development,” stated Okotoks subdivision planner Teresa Carte in a letter to the Foothills MD council.
The Foothills MD council did not make a decision on the application voting to table the matter so council could tour the site which is bordered by Highway 7 to the south and Big Rock Trail to the north.
Foothills MD Councillor Terry Waddock admitted he did have some concerns in regards to the water that would be needed to service 300 homes.
“Groundwater is more of a concern because it is a limited resource and this is a significant development that relies entirely on groundwater,” said Waddock.
The Sandstone development will be serviced with three wells that will have to be licenced with Alberta Environment and the wells will supply a communal potable water system for the 300 residences. The wells will only supply potable water as water for irrigation is proposed to be serviced through rain water and storm run off that will be stored in the wetlands on the property. In addition, each home will be metered for potable water and irrigation.
According to Urban Systems, the design firm for the development, the project will require an average of 270 cubic metres of water per day with a maximum of 400 cubic metres per day. The three wells will supply about 500 cubic metres of water per day.
In addition, the developer stated the wells on the property are not hydrologically connected to the Sheep River. That is key as there is a water licence moratorium on the Sheep River meaning the wells could not be licenced if it was deemed they would impact the Sheep River.
Not all residents in the region agreed that such a high density development was prudent either due to concerns with groundwater. Although the majority who attended the hearing did not oppose the development, they did voice concerns with regards to the impact the development would have on neighbouring wells.
In terms of density, Sandstone Springs proposes about 1.4 units per acre whereas other recent proposals are higher including Sirocco, which is proposing about 1,500 homes on 955 acres (1.5 units per acre) and Heritage Pointe Phase 3 which includes 304 residences on 137 acres (2.12 units per acre). However, the MD also recently turned down the Saddle Spring development near Millarville which included 85 units on 629 acres or 0.13 units per acre.
In addition to the 300 residences, Sandstone Springs includes more than 42 acres of environmental reserve around the 30 acres of wetlands that bisects the property, 41 acres of municipal reserve and an eight kilometre trail system.
Craig Johnson of New North Projects Ltd., which is a partner in the development, said the Sandstone Springs project is a unique proposal that will be an asset to the community.
“This is an extraordinary property with extraordinary mountain views,” said Johnson. “The sandstone ridges and wetlands give this land unique characteristics. We will try hard to preserve the natural landscape.”
As for the town’s concerns the developers agreed water is a key issue and they are sensitive to the use of groundwater which is why they needed to ensure the wells were not going to impact the Sheep River and why each home will be metered to encourage water conservation.
Dave Nixon, president of Dream West Homes, attended the public hearing and stated additional development is needed to meet demand and Okotoks is simply unwilling to meet that demand.
“In my opinion Okotoks has shut itself off by closing its doors to development,” said Nixon. “This is a fabulous opportunity and it shows great foresight by the MD to step up to the plate when Okotoks has closed its doors.”
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In this issue...
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Falcons Conquer Mountain
Foothills advances to rugby finals with win over Edge
• See Sports
Out of the Blue
Youth art show opens
at The Station
• See Entertainment
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