Campground pitch misses

A variety of unanswered questions left some councillors uncomfortable with moving ahead on a proposed campground west of the city.

During Monday night's meeting, city council opposed an application to change the zoning of a nearly 10 hectare property off Sindia Road and Highway 16 West.

The city's planning department was recommending council give the project the go-ahead for a site-specific change to the Agriculture and Forestry zoning to allow the campground as the property's only commercial use.

The 4-3 vote followed a public hearing and council debate of more than an hour where neighbours and other concerned residents expressed opposition to the application on the basis of insufficient services and infrastructure to the property as well as traffic and air quality concerns.

"To let it go like it is, to me, it just defies logic. There's too many things that say no," said Coun. Brian Skakun.

According to L&M Engineering planner Ashley Elliott, the landowner intended the campground to be used for short-term stays for RV owners passing through town.

But, said neighbours, the zoning allows for stays of 250 consecutive days.

Another issue of concern had to do with the water requirements. Neighbours said they were worried about the strain that a 150-stall campground would put on the area's aquifer.

L&M vice president Terry Fjellstrom said he didn't think the water demand would be significant, but didn't have numbers with him regarding the maximum water consumption.

"Most of the people in the campground are going to be in RVs with their own water. We do have water at the campground but it's not a high water use," he said.

But that didn't sit well with councillors Murry Krause and Lyn Hall.

"I think the notion that very little water would be used in a campground just doesn't wash," said Krause.

Hall, who described himself has an RVer who has spent a lot of time around campsites, said there is a significant amount of water used and that he couldn't separate the land use issue from the bigger picture. "I don't have that ability to draw that line in the sand," he said.

Coun. Cameron Stolz, chairing the meeting as acting mayor, said he was looking solely at the land use aspects and that certain issues raised, such as sewage requirements, were out of council's scope.

Coun. Dave Wilbur said he disagreed with the idea that just because there were questions yet to be answered, the application couldn't move forward.

Had the application passed third reading, Coun. Garth Frizzell was looking to place a condition on fourth reading for restrictions surrounding the use of campfires on the site.

A letter from Northern Health highlighted the agency's concerns about the location of the site and its potential impacts on air quality due to woodsmoke.

"It is our understand that this site is located in a rural residential neighbourhood, in relatively close proximity to a trailer park and only approximately 800 metres from the Vanway elementary school, a sensitive receptor for air quality," wrote Healthy Community Environments lead Barbara Oke.

One area councillors did agree was that it wasn't within their purview whether or not competing businesses set up shop close to each other.

Hartway RV Park owner Cindy Brodhagen said her site is suffering due to the parking available at Wal-Mart and Treasure Cove Casino.

"I really want council to realize what is killing small business in this city," she said.

Skakun said that while he could empathize with the other businesses, he wasn't going to base his decision on the issue of competition.

Mayor Shari Green and Coun. Frank Everitt were not in attendance.