LAC LA BICHE - A proposed updated land use bylaw for Lac La Biche County will be discussed during open houses that are set to take place at the end of January. The Land Use Bylaw serves as a template for many areas of municipal and residential property usage, including parking, development processes, unsightly property and snow removal.
The events will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at the Festival Centre in Plamondon and at McArthur Place in Lac La Biche on Thursday, Jan. 30.
According to Jihad Moghrabi, a spokesperson for Lac La Biche County, the open houses will provide an opportunity for the public to preview and comment on the newest version of the municipality’s Land Use Bylaw (LUB). This bylaw, he explained, is due to replace the current version of the Land Use Bylaw that has been in place since 2017.
The current bylaw has been revised several times over the years. The LUB contains sections pertaining to land use regulations in the municipality. These include portions governing general and special land use districts, development processes, as well as protocols regarding access approaches to public roads from commercial and residential areas.
“Comments and feedback received from the open houses will then be compiled and shared with Lac La Biche County Council as information for their consideration,” he told Lakeland This Week.
Changes
Some of the proposed changes to the current land use bylaw, Moghrabi continued, include a revised recreational vehicle section, along with regulations related to campground development.
The purpose of a land use bylaw, he went on, is to help with orderly development and provide clarity on what is possible within the area covered in the bylaw.
Changes to the standards in land use bylaws in general, Moghrabi said, are routinely necessary, explaining that through the practical application of the standards, certain parts of an LUB can be found either ineffective or ambiguous. Whenever this occurs, these portions of a bylaw need to be rewritten to better serve residents.
“We make smaller changes through bylaw amendments,” he said. “However, over time, it makes more sense to overhaul the entire document as a new land use bylaw, rather than continue making amendments to the existing one.”
As noted in information from Lac La Biche County, the Alberta Municipal Government Act requires every municipality in the province to have a landuse bylaw regulating development, and the process should be revised every five to seven years.
Moghrabi stated that municipalities in Alberta are constantly updating their land use bylaws through amendments.
“The purpose of doing so is to ensure that the provisions within the land use bylaw reflect the changes in communities that inevitably happen over time,” he stated.
The open house events will be held in each community on the specified dates from 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm.
