The County of Stettler Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) approved a subdivision application with one catch: the existing access must be included with the new residential parcel, not with the existing agricultural parcel. The decision was made at the Sept. 15 MPC board meeting.

The MPC is comprised of members of county council and the Sept. 15 meeting was chaired by Coun. Justin Stevens.

Craig Teal, director of planning and development, presented a subdivision from property owners and applicants Kathleen Murphy and Alexander Geates to subdivide a roughly 9.95 acre parcel from an existing parcel of roughy 158.99 acres which is located at NW 16-40-20 W4M.

“The subject property is located approximately 4 km southwest of the Summer Village of White Sands and 17.5 km northeast of Erskine,” stated Teal’s report to the board. “The terrain of the property consists of hilly cropland and pasture, with some treed areas and a farmstead. The proposed 9.95-acre parcel contains an existing dwelling and a fabric portable storage building. The remainder of the subject land will continue to be used as cropland and pasture.”

It was noted the parcel in question is within the Buffalo Lake Intermunicipal Development Plan, which includes rules for developments within the plan’s boundaries. Teal’s report noted, “The plan policies provide that no multi-lot subdivisions occur in the limited development area.”

The report stated that the application met requirements under the Municipal Development Plan, while all agencies which were sent a copy of the application had no problems with it.

During discussion Reeve Larry Clarke noted he had a problem with the odd shape of the proposed new parcel; according to maps provided at the meeting the new parcel would be square-shaped with the bottom lefthand corner sliced off. Clarke stated that with a square or rectangular shape the county doesn’t run into access issues.

“It almost looks like somebody tried to draw that subdivision with an etch-a-sketch,’ said Clarke.

Teal responded succinctly. “What I can assure you we’re not using an etch-a-sketch,” said Teal, who added that planners work with applicants to draw a shape that meets their requirements. Teal stated the shape in question includes the lone access point with the existing parcel and is affected by existing fence lines. As well, a septic discharge point with its minimum distance separations also affected the shape.

Coun. Paul McKay stated he agreed with Clarke that the odd shape is undesirable.

Teal stated the applicants voiced interest in the farmland while also stating they’re interested in “offloading the existing buildings as a saleable element.”

During discussion board members discussed the current agricultural uses of the parcel’s balance with Coun. Stevens noting the existing access is a shared approach used by multiple users.

Teal also explained that for the purposes of the Rural Development Fund (RDF) staff felt the new parcel should be considered a residence on bare land which exempts the first five acres from RDF calculation, leaving about 4.5 acres for that.

Coun. Stevens observed that this parcel of land has come up in other County of Stettler discussions, including dust control related to a nearby campground and a request to hook-up to the municipal water system.

Stevens reminded board members that the application before them was only to subdivide a parcel while the future use of that parcel is unknown.

Board members approved the application by a 4 to 1 vote with one change: the proposed new parcel’s boundaries would have to be redrawn to include the access in the new residential parcel, rather than with the existing agricultural parcel. Clarke was the lone dissenter.