OLDS — The Town of Olds' council has approved a request for outdoor storage of vehicles, functioning as an impound lot, at 5703 48 Avenue.
Council made that decision in recent weeks. Back in January, council approved a request to convert that parcel of land into a salvage yard.
Development officer Nathan Hill told council this new use would be in addition to that older use, not a replacement.
Hill said he distributed the application to adjacent landowners, and “I got no comment back on the permit itself.”
Hill said however, that he added three conditions to the draft permit for the new use for a total of seven conditions. They include:
Condition #2 - The storage area shall be screened from visibility from the road and adjacent parcels to the satisfaction of the development authority,
Condition #3 - The storage area shall be used only for storage of automobiles. No other storage is authorized by this development permit,
Condition #4 - The storage area shall be maintained in a tidy fashion and shall not constitute a nuisance.
“Those are over and above our typical conditions, just my previous experience with them, outdoor storage yards. I figured this was a necessary addition,” Hill said.
Others included:
Condition #1 - The development must be constructed in accordance with the approved plans and conditions.
Any revisions to the approved plans (including non-completion of the development) must be submitted for approval to the development authority,
Condition #5 -- If the development authorized by a development permit is not commenced within 12 months from the date of issue, nor carried out with reasonable diligence, such permit approval ceases and the permit itself is deemed void, expired, and without effect, unless an extension of this period has been previously granted,
Condition #6 -- The development officer may, by notice in writing, suspend a development permit where development has occurred in contravention to the terms and conditions of the permit and/or land use bylaw.
Coun. Heather Ryan asked for some clarification on condition #3.
“Now, I know that we've had some questions or concerns brought to us in the past with regards to this kind of an operation where the vehicles were oversized and over height,” she said.
“I just want to make sure whether or not we needed to do any kind of specification with regards to the length of the height of the vehicle, because ‘automobile’ might be construed as something else in somebody else's mind.
“I'm wondering if it would help further to add in height and length of those vehicles, because before, I think there was concern about RVs or buses, big trucks and things like that, going into that one yard.”
“I think in in my mind, given that it's in an industrial area, keeping RVs and oversized vehicles in that wouldn't necessarily be a major concern of mine and I think it's also addressed in condition 2, because anything that is kept in that area would have to be adequately screened off,” Hill said.
“If that is a concern of council, we can always address how that condition’s worded, but I don't necessarily have a major concern in that respect.”
Hill said it’s his understanding that the applicant “intends to store exclusively automobiles, like consumer vehicles.”
Ryan asked how tall the screen around the property would be.
“Typically, I expect screening areas be at least two meters in height,” he said.
“I think what I'm concerned about with storage areas as a whole is the cumulative effect of the screening and the site turning into a junkyard,” he said.
Mayor Judy Dahl noted Hill has the right to “revisit” the matter if necessary.
