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Province unveils changes to MGA

The MD of Foothills mayor is speaking out against plans to force municipalities into a growth management board for the Calgary Region as part of an overhaul of Alberta’s Municipal Government Act.

The MD of Foothills mayor is speaking out against plans to force municipalities into a growth management board for the Calgary Region as part of an overhaul of Alberta’s Municipal Government Act.

The creation of the new board is one of a list of changes to the act unveiled May 31, including giving municipalities the ability to collect more from developers for new infrastructure, limiting taxes for business properties and allowing a portion of new developments to be set aside for affordable housing.

Plans to require municipalities outside Calgary to join a growth board has MD Mayor Larry Spilak concerned. He said MD council is elected to represent Foothills landowners, not representatives from towns and cities elsewhere in the Calgary region.

“That responsibility is being taken away from us and given to elected officials in the urban surrounding municipalities and I find that really disappointing,” said Spilak.

Though membership was not included in the Province’s announcement last week, Spilak expects the MD will be required to join the board.

The MD of Foothills was once a member of the Calgary Regional Partnership, but withdrew over concerns over a growth plan for the region and that the City was given too much power in the group’s voting structure.

The boards are intended to guide efficient provision of regional services and they will be required to create a growth plan for the region. The provincial government will work with municipalities within the Calgary region to determine membership, mandate and governance rules for the growth boards.

Okotoks Mayor Bill Robertson, who is also chairman of the partnership, said it’s essential to have all the region’s municipalities on the same page to prevent urban sprawl and make future development more sustainable.

“It’s going to be very difficult to sustain and pay for urban sprawl, and that includes roads, water lines, wastewater lines, everything,” he said.

The provincial government will hold meetings in 20 communities across the Alberta and it intends to have the new act approved and in place before municipal elections in fall 2017.

The revised legislation act includes a number of changes in a range of areas.

One key move will allow towns and cities to charge developers more for infrastructure costs. Municipalities are currently allowed to charge developers off-site levies to pay for infrastructure including roads, water systems, storm-water and waste-water infrastructure in areas where they will directly benefit from them.

The revised act will expand this list to include fire halls, police stations, recreation facilities and libraries when a new development receives at least 30 per cent of the benefit from those facilities. The act will also require inclusionary housing, which will allow municipalities to reserve a portion of new developments for affordable housing.

The Province is also looking to limit increases to non-residential tax rates. Under one provision, non-residential tax rates cannot be more than five times the lowest residential tax rate. In Okotoks, the rate charged to non-residential properties is 38 per cent higher the residential properties.

Municipalities will also be required to draft agreements with their neighbours to share the cost of municipal services. As well, municipal councils will be required to have a code of conduct and the Alberta Ombudsman will be allowed to investigate municipal decisions.

Robertson said the Town is already doing much of what is proposed, including voluntary developer contributions for community amenities and a council code of conduct. Both Okotoks and the MD of Foothills have had a cost of services agreement in place for several years.

Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee said the act was last reviewed in 1995 and it needs to be updated to reflect modern needs and realities.

“Modernizing the MGA is critical to ensuring our province’s future prosperity and to improving the vitality of our communities,” she said in a press conference.

She said municipalities need to come together to serve residents better.

“Instead of supplicating costly services, the revised MGA requires municipalities to come together through municipal partnerships to find new and innovative ways to integrate services, to manage growth and use land to being better environmental stewards,” she said.

Larivee said sharing services will save money and make the delivery of municipal services more efficient.

According to Larivee, expanding the number of areas municipalities can charge levies will ensure services are in place when residents move into new communities.

“Albertans need more than just a safe place to call home. They need real neighbourhoods to live in, neighbourhoods that are kept safe by police and firefighters in nearby stations and ones where hockey practice is held around the corner and not across the city,” she said.

Larivee said she isn’t concerned about the new levies resulting in higher prices for new homes. It will ensure the cost of new infrastructure will be borne by those who use them, she said.

Moez Moledina, general manager of developer Tristar Communities, said the municipal government act was out dated and the changes are a positive move.

He said he recognizes the value community infrastructure adds to new developments, the question is how much developers should have to pay.

Moledina pointed out developers in Okotoks already contribute to items that aren’t already covered under the existing act through an agreement with the town.

“Things have changed, we understand the municipalities point of view that somebody has to pay for growth anyway,” he said. “The question always is how do you divvy up the cost of growth between new residents and existing residents? That has always been the question.”

Moledina said the goal is always to make things better for communities and the people who call them home.

“At the end of the day, you’re looking to improve the quality of life and I think those are all the elements that are inclusive in that,” he said.

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