A land rezoning request has been made to allow the development of a new campground near the Medalta Museum and Strathcona Island Park.--SUPPLIED IMAGE
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
A public hearing was held Monday at council over a proposed campsite development that would be located east of the Medalta Museum, with 70 full- and limited-service sites.
The proposed campground is split into three land zones and would require a re-designation of the land located at 620 Porcelain Avenue.
At this time in the development process, council will only be approving the development permit application to rezone the use of the land and will not look at technical details of the campground itself.
“This is not a time to do a deep dive into the technical details,” said Jim Genge, superintendent of planning, following a public gallery comment over concern of contamination on the site.
Councillors have received a site assessment that looks into environmental impact, contamination, hazards and flood risk. However, these assessments were provided to council for information purposes only.
This assessment was conducted earlier this year and the level of environment risk ranges between low to moderate but does not pose a significant environment risk or contamination from previous industrial use, a city committee heard in July.
The proposed campsite, located near Ross Creek, Seven Persons Creek and the South Saskatchewan River, would take advantage of large natural open areas and would incorporate nearby public trails close to the Heritage Pavilion and McDonnell Park.
The campsite would also utilize undeveloped lands that are likely not suitable for development due to the number of slopes.
The site is partially located within the Historical Clay District which contains the Medicine Hat Brick and Tile Factory. As well the campsite proposal expands into the business industrial district that contains motor vehicle service station Bad Guy Motors. A portion of the campsite is also located on a district of land reserved for future urban development.
City staff are recommending council rezone the proposed campground to a “direct control” district to allow council to manage the unique considerations of the project.
Councillors also heard support for the new project from a member of the public gallery and received a letter of support from the Medalta Historic Clay District.
