A proposal to split a quarter section of Red Deer County farmland was rejected by the municipal planning commission on Tuesday.
Planning commission members cited the need to preserve the county's agricultural nature in denying a developer's request to carve out a 58-acre parcel from a full 160-acre quarter section south of Highway 595 about five km east of Red Deer.
"Here's a fine opportunity for us to say we believe agriculture comes first," said Coun. Philip Massier.
There are other options in the county's Land Use Bylaw in place to divide out parcels from quarter sections in certain cases, Massier added.
Mayor Jim Wood said there are times when creating new places for people to live benefits rural communities by providing more students for schools, more potential volunteer firefighters and community hall supporters. Each application must be weighed on its own merits but in this case he could not support the subdivision.
"What we do want is to make sure that we don't change the nature of the community to a negative extent," he said.
Coun. Lonny Kennett said the proposal "doesn't adhere to the overall intent of what we've got in our land use bylaws. This seems to be a bridge too far."
Not all councillors were opposed. Coun. Dana Depalme said dividing the property would likely only add another four vehicles to the local road (Range Road 260) and the county would benefit from additional residents and property taxes, which could be used to improve the road that local residents said was dangerous.
West Haven Land and Developments president Rees Smith said his application is a response to a demand for larger-size agricultural parcels that have enough land to allow for continued agricultural use.
On smaller acreages, when driveways, homes, lawns, livestock pens and various other structures are built there is little room left for crop production or pasturing, he says in a letter to the planning commission.
The planning commission, which is comprised of members of council, heard from several residents opposed to the subdivision and the traffic it would add to a hilly road with a number of "S" curves that had led to numerous collisions and near-misses.
Dianne Skagen-McBeth said she feared that if this subdivision was approved, other applications to further divide up the property would follow.
"Once the process starts, it tends to carry on and more subdivision results."
Cameron Oke, who has lived for 30 years on a property that would be directly across from the subdivision property, said over the years, 11 acreages have been built along the perilous dead-end road, and the traffic has become "horrendous."
Less than a year ago, a vehicle ended upside down on his property, he said.
Oke urged the county to remain committed to preserving agricultural land and not to allow the subdivision.
"It's just going to take that land completely out of agricultural use."
