After receiving word his southern Alberta farm store will be shut down for not meeting strict building code requirements, Nick Shipley received a stamp of approval by an engineer. .Shipley's small 400-sq.-ft. retail space was set up in a pre-existing building on his farm. After applying for a business licence in 2020, he learned his small space needed to be approved by the County of Foothills..READ MORE: Red tape threatens to close Black Diamond-area farm store.The building, according to Shipley, was built in the 80's before he owned the property and he does not have a copy of the blueprints. Those drawings, kept in the basement of the Foothills Country headquarters, were destroyed in the 2013 High River flood..To get his development permit, Shipley was required to get a third-party engineer to inspect his building and provide him a stamp of approval.."I've seen 28 engineers so far and most of them said no. Seven said they will stamp it but for them to take on the liability, it will be pricey," he said..Shipley told the Western Standard he was facing a fee of anywhere between $5,000 to $20,000 to get an engineer to pass his small retail space.."Every builder who has seen the building said it was built very well and is rock solid," said Shipley..After going public with his situation, and his wife Alli launching a petition on Change.org asking for support in their fight to keep their farm store open, Shipley said an Airdrie-based engineer reached out to him to help. ."He reached out and told me he is a small business owner as well and wants to help," said Shipley..Eric Krautheim of Pferdkraft Inc. engineering firm met with Shipley Monday afternoon and, after inspecting his retail space, approved the building. ."His structure is going to work just fine and meets all the necessary code," Krautheim told the Western Standard. ."Structurally, it's 100%.".Krautheim said it's difficult to get an engineer to certify a building if there are no existing blueprints or drawings for the structure.."I've been in construction and engineering all my life; that's well over 50 years," he said. .Krautheim said he specializes in inspecting buildings with "lots of unusual challenges" including those without structural drawings. ."When I heard about this situation, I said, 'we need to come out and give Nick a hand with this.'" ."I truly, truly appreciate him right now," said Shipley. "He saved my store." .Krautheim said he understands the position counties are in when it comes to the liability of granting a business licence. ."They are stuck having to apply national building code," said Krautheim. ."I feel their pain and for those that don't have extensive experience in design and construction, it's very difficult to look at an existing building without drawings." .After fears he would need to spend up to $20,000 to get an engineer to assess his building and provide him a stamp of approval, Shipley said he was ecstatic to get Krautheim's approval for what the engineer said would be a "minimal assessment fee." ."He said he wanted to help because he believes in supporting local and is also a small business owner," said Shipley of Krautheim. ."The sad part is this isn't going to change the rules for others trying to open farm stores. They will just continue to hit walls unless the rules get updated for the current market." .While speaking with the Western Standard earlier, Shipley highlighted a study done by the Foothills Tourism Association looking at agritourism and farm stores and assessed factors affecting the development of agritourism development in the Foothills..The study revealed key challenges including:.the lack of a regional definition for agritourism;unclear processes around permitting;limitations on vehicle visits at home-based businesses; andlimitations for businesses with properties zoned for agricultural (versus commercial) use.A questionnaire was completed by 42 agritourism operators in the Foothills region. One respondent said they believe local government has "created so much bureaucracy and rules, we are going to regulate ourselves out of business.".Another respondent said "a $450 development permit can turn into thousands of dollars for remedies to make all other buildings on the property come into compliance.".And yet another said they had to force attendees to carpool to a chef event they were hosting in fear of getting in trouble for having too many vehicles on their property at one time..The study recommended amending land use and other bylaws to help address challenges and barriers to agritourism..Shipley said he hopes the engineer's approval will be the last requirement he needs to get his development permit and licence for his home-based business. ."They may come back at us with other things," he said, fearing the County of Foothills may be upset with him taking the matter public, "but, it needed to be done so other agritourism and farm-based businesses don't have to run into the same red tape down the road." .The building, according to Shipley, was built in the 80's before he owned the property and he does not have a copy of the blueprints. Those drawings, kept in the basement of the Foothills Country headquarters, were destroyed in the 2013 High River flood. .Heather Hemingway, director of planning with Foothills County told the Western Standard the structure on Shipley's farm was an outbuilding and would not have required a permit, nor would there have been structural drawings on file for it with the county. .Hemingway said Shipley was issued a development permit in April 2021 which included four conditions that needed to be met, one being a building permit for the retail space he opened. .She said Shipley was granted two extentions and was given until August 16 to comply with the requirements needed to obtain his building permit. ."He did not meet the deadline and we had to act as it puts us in a significant liability position," said Hemingway.."Anyone who is changing the occupancy of any building needs to get a permit to meet building code." .Hemingway said these requirements for occupancy and land-use changes are for safety and to ensure the community can participate in the consultation process as many land owners feel such changes to neighbouring land is an "imposition on their lifestyles" visually, and bring more traffic and noise..She confirmed to her knowledge there have been no complaints against Shipley, but "council sees complaint applications come in all the time." ."We have to be aware of the concerns of the community," said Hemingway.."We have to maintain a balance and make sure the community has a say and can feel comfortable with what is going on around them." .Hemingway said Shipley will need to make an application for a building permit with the county and the space will need to be inspected and approved before his development permit, which is now "null and void," will be reissued.
