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Red Deer land parcel straddling two municipalities creates dilemma

City and county must reach agreeemnt on who will oversee initial subdivision
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(Advocate file photo).

A parcel of land that stretches across both municipalities has created a dilemma for the City of Red Deer and Red Deer County.

On Monday, city council will consider a bylaw that would settle a complicated jurisdictional issue that has arisen for both municipalities as they weigh a subdivision request for land that spans their borders.

The parcel is owned by the Hazlett family under one title — even though the western part sits in Red Deer County, and the portion that’s east of Highway 2 falls within the City of Red Deer.

Tara Lodewyk, the city’s planning services director, said Highway 2 was chosen as a divisional border when the city annexed land from the county. Planners had not realized that a single titled land parcel straddled the major traffic corridor.

While this problem is new to the City of Red Deer, Lodewyk said it’s common enough in other parts of Alberta that it’s been dealt with under Section 12 of the Municipal Government Act.

The solution is to require that an agreement be signed between the two municipalities.

If passed by city council on Monday and county council on Tuesday, the agreement would allow the city’s subdivision authority to act as the authority for all the land, including the portion in the county.

But once the land is subdivided along the municipal boundary (Highway 2), then each municipality will oversee the decision-making on the portion of land that’s under its control.

The property within the City of Red Deer is located north of Highway 11A and west of Hazlett Lake.

It’s designated for future residential development, said senior planner Orlando Toews.

He’s not sure how quickly the development will proceed, saying it’s up to the owners and will likely be determined by the demand for housing lots.

The subdivision application came into the city in February, but the dilemma over jurisdiction caused a delay.

To facilitate a timely decision after nearly four months, city council will be asked to consider all three readings of the bylaw at Monday’s meeting. No public hearing is required.



lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com

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