Red Deer County’s municipal planning commission cracked down on house owners annoying neighbours by bringing their work home.
The commission rejected a pair of applications from homeowners who wanted to use residential properties for business purposes.
In Benalto, the owner of a large home in a new neighbourhood also ran an oilfield service business and wanted to park company welding trucks and other equipment on his property. A large six-metre by 2.4-metre sea-can storage container was also located in the back yard and the homeowner wanted to keep it there.
Neighbours complained in January about the number of welding trucks parked at the home.
In Linn Valley, a similar situation arose with a tow truck business.
The county informed the owner that he couldn’t keep vehicles there without a permit to run a home business major. Despite the warning, the trucks returned and neighbours continued to complain before the homeowner applied for the permit late last month.
The owners argued in a letter to the county that trucks and other equipment are only on the property when not at the work site and no business is conducted from the home. The sea-can is only a temporary addition that will be removed when another location is found, said the property owner.
Councillor Reimar Poth said the problems on the property amount to its use being changed from residential use to business use.
“If I lived in Benalto, I too would be upset.”
Council unanimously rejected the permit applications to run a home business and store a sea-can on site.
Residents complained that the homeowner was using his property to store tow trucks despite warnings from the county that a permit would be required.
When a permit application was made, neighbours gathered 16 names on a petition objecting to the application for a home business permit.
The planning commission also unanimously rejected this application.
“There’s no logic in having a commercial-industrial entity in a residential area,” said Poth.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com