Observing growing new developments in Cypress County

Posted on July 6, 2022 by 40 Mile Commentator

By Anna Smith

Commentator/Courier

Over in Cypress County, there’s some potential new developments that may be turning heads as travellers pass by, both private and public.

East of the Hamlet of Hilda, the Borderland Hutterian Brethren were issued a development permit for a  248’ x 70’ Vegetable Processing Building, said planning director Kaylene Brown.

“They’re setting up a new colony in that area by the Saskatchewan Border and part of their development is also a vegetable plant as well,” said Brown.

Equally of interest, but perhaps less in the public eye is a development still waiting for decision from the appeal board, a way to study the stars.

“It’s a private observatory that a landowner had applied for. And what they were requesting was a setback variance from an undeveloped County Road allowance,” said Brown. “So it’s a registered public road. However, it’s not been built to county standards. So it’s considered undeveloped, and utilized primarily for agricultural access for machinery and equipment and those sorts of things.”

The planning commission initially found the variance to be too great and came up with an alternative solution that wouldn’t interfere with potential future development on that road; however, this solution comes with issues of its own.

“They found another alternative, that would kind of lessen the impact on future county road building projects if we ever needed to upgrade that roadway. And on that decision, they recognized that on the yard site, there are existing tree lines that the landowner would have had to have removed, and also to relocate a private gas line,” said Brown. “So they appealed the decision of the MPC to the appeal board, and now we’re waiting for that decision to come from that board.”

The county and the landowner are currently looking for a solution that will allow for the observatory while still falling within parameters, said Brown.