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Businessman to pay for paving

An Eckville businessman will have to pay for pricey paving work to meet Lacombe County development rules.

An Eckville businessman will have to pay for pricey paving work to meet Lacombe County development rules.

Randy Eliuk wants to build 24 light industrial lots on 43 acres he owns just north of Eckville on Secondary Hwy 766. The lots in the Medicine Valley Industrial Park would be suitable for light manufacturing, welding, warehousing, bulk fuel stations, trucking or other similar types of businesses.

To make the project economical, he is proposing gravel roads inside the industrial park and overhead power lines.

However, county standards require paved roads and buried utilities, said Allan Williams, county manager of planning services. The county also wants the developer to reserve land to act as a buffer with neighbouring properties.

Eliuk had proposed offering cash in lieu of the reserve land. Outside council, Eliuk said he will have to consider how paving and burying power lines will affect the project’s economics and how it could affect lot prices.

“It’s definitely an obstacle,” he said.

He’ll have a better idea on how to proceed after establishing costs, he added.

Councillor Rod McDermand said council should make it clear before the project goes any further through the approval process that it does not want to relax development standards.

The county should stick to its requirements and not change them for individual applications, he said.

Reeve Terry Engen said council can give the project second reading and standards for roads and utilities would be laid out in the development agreement that must be signed before council considers third and final reading.

pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com