Council looked into a greenhouse expansion

By Jeremy Appel

Southern Alberta Newspapers

Redcliff town council discussed a proposal to expand Eldorado Vegetable Farms at its Nov. 14 meeting.
In order to expand, the property needs to be re-classified from an Agriculture IDP District 1 to an Agriculture District 3 under the town’s Land-use Bylaw.
However, since the greenhouse sits on the border of Redcliff and Cyprus County, it requires approval from the City of Medicine Hat, Town of Redcliff and Cypress County under the Tri Area Inter-municipal Development Plan.
“We don’t have any issues with the zoning change, just an issue with the way the Tri Area Inter-municipal Development Plan is written,” said Mayor Dwight Kilpatrick.
“What has to happen with doing that project, is all three municiaplities need to vote to amend the bylaw.”
Council passed a motion saying that it opposed adjusting the bylaw prior to updating the Tri Area agreement.
“We have to change the rule rather than break the rule,” Kilpatrick said.
Second and third readings of other bylaw amendment
Council also passed the second and third readings of a separate amendment to the Land-use Bylaw that was originally discussed at its Sept. 25 meeting.
The amendment permits NewRock Developments to build multiple duplexes where a house currently stands at 15 Third St. SW.
This required a change in the property’s status under the bylaw from an R-1 Single Family Residential District to an R-3 Medium Residential District.
Public hearings were held, at both the Sept. 25 and Nov. 14 meetings, to solicit input from the property’s adjacent landowners, but noone spoke up.
“Nobody in the gallery was there to speak for or against it and we received no information on it, so we gave it second and third reading, which basically means that there will probably be a little more intensive development there than an R-1 property,” Kilpatrick said.