Cypress County receives feedback on land use bylaw

By ANNA SMITH on April 25, 2024.

Following a series of open houses in regards to an upcoming Land Use Bylaw review, a presentation was made to Cypress County council this week.

“We put out a public survey for March 11 through to April 15, and we also hosted a series of open house in-person participation opportunities, both here at the county administration office, in the Hamlet of Seven Persons, as well as in the Hamlet of Irvine,” said county planning supervisor Kaylene Brown.

She noted that getting engagement from the public is one of the challenges when it comes to conducting these Land Use Bylaw reviews, and as such, they endeavoured to take a different approach this year in order to get much-needed feedback from the ratepayers.

The most well attended of the open houses was conducted at the county office, with 21 people having signed in.

“It was lots of people here just gathering information, educating themselves on where the Land Use Bylaw is, and we’re really happy to see that,” said Brown.

In addition to the verbal feedback, they were able to collect 12 survey responses. None of the feedback is shocking, said Brown, but it was valuable insight into where these concerns lie.

“There were three survey responses that asked that the county review the maximum floor area for accessory structures,” said Brown, explaining that an approach more relative to the size of the parcel has been requested, and something to be taken into consideration moving forward.

Irvine needing a gas station was also put forward by the responses, as was feedback regarding unclear greenhouse regulation.

“Really good feedback concerning the minimum parcel areas in Dunmore with the increase in housing sizes,” said Brown. “Contractors are finding that build lot sizes are not sufficient to accommodate the septic fields. So we will certainly take a look at that and probably will tie into that drainage study component as well.”

The feedback will be received as information as the county moves forward with drafting amendments to the Land Use Bylaw.

The full list of comments and the associated recommendations can be found within the April 24 agenda package.