A small group of concerned Thorhild County, AB. citizens are opposing a proposed Land Use Bylaw (LUB)..Thorhild County, in Northern Alberta, started the Land Use Bylaw review with the previous council in 2021 and contracted the consulting firm, Green Space Alliance Urban Planning Firm (GSA)..GSA is an international company based out of India.."Clearly not an appropriate choice for an almost entirely agricultural community," the concerned citizens stated..Thorhild County’s reeve, Joyce Pierce, called a special council meeting on Feb. 2, 2023, at 2 pm at the Thorhild County Council Chambers with the intent of defeating the second reading of the draft Land Use Bylaw..Bylaw 14-2022 received its First Reading on Nov. 22, 2022, and was followed by a public hearing on January 10. Many residents have voiced concerns over some of the proposed regulations during the public hearing and since that time..“We recognize that residents have many questions and concerns about the draft bylaw in its current form,” said Reeve Pierce..“While we intended to take time to look at areas where the bylaw could be changed to reduce the level of concerns, council has heard this Land Use Bylaw is not acceptable to the public.”.A draft bylaw can be rescinded by either defeating the second or third readings or if the bylaw does not receive the third reading within two years of the first reading..The three main issues the concerned residents have raised that impact everyone in the county are: retroactive non-conformity, enforcement and subjective language used in the bylaw.."The non-conformity clause in this bylaw indicates any structure that was conforming before the proposed LUB is enacted but now is not in conformance, is deemed non-conforming," the citizens stated.."Under the enforcement sections of this proposed LUB, a designated officer is only required to provide 48 hours' notice to the registered owner or occupant to enter the property, without a warrant. Acceptable communication includes regular mail to the last known address.".When it comes to subjective language the concerned citizens claim there are more than 100 examples of "in the opinion of," "to the discretion of," and "to the satisfaction of."."The Development Authority and other subjective, opinion-based phrases that have no guidelines or framework to describe what that opinion, satisfaction or discretion are to look like. This language allows for many variations in the application of the bylaw depending on the officer applying it, and to whom," the concerned residents said.."The proposed LUB also refers the reader to documents that don't exist or don't exist in the capacity that the LUB suggests that they do. For example, our proposed LUB directs the reader to the 'Urban Hen Bylaw' though council voted against Urban Hens on Jan 14, 2021, and there is no such document. Our proposed LUB also directs us to the Animal Control Act for how to keep animals/livestock; however, our County's Animal Control Bylaw is specific to dogs.".The concerned residents said the clauses in the proposed bylaw are alarming.."We have concerns about including the strict limiting of food production, we are an agricultural county," the concerned residents said.."The section on fencing restricts all barbed wire fencing — including in agricultural districts — by requiring permits for ALL barbed wire fences (paired with the retroactive non-conformity, this includes existing barbed wire fences, too). Any enclosure (fence or building of ANY size) that houses chickens requires a permit on farms, acreages, and in the hamlets.".The residents held a public meeting January 21 at Newbrook hall to voice their concerns.."We were anticipating 50, maybe 75 people to show up. We had an amazing turn out of 193 people who attended the meeting, and Coun. Trevor Dafoe was present as well. While he couldn't address the Land Use Bylaw, he was there to hear our concerns as a community," the concerned residents said..All Alberta municipalities must have a land use bylaw in place. The county will continue using the current land use bylaw established in 2015, which remains in effect..The only matter to be discussed at the February 2, Special Council Meeting is the second reading of Land Use Bylaw 14-2022..The draft bylaw will be defeated if the second reading does not pass.
