Leduc County adopts new Land Use bylaw

LEDUC COUNTY -- Leduc County's new Land Use bylaw has been fully adopted following years of consultation.

This marks the first time that the municipality has approved a new Land Use bylaw since 2008. The new bylaw has been in the works for years, and has undergone numerous public engagement sessions since being drafted by County administration. The new document will provide a guiding framework and chart the path forward for the future development of the municipality.

Collin Richards -- Supervisor of Development Services -- underscores the importance of the new document.

"The Land Use bylaw is one of the most important tools that a municipality has for achieving the strategic vision and goals that are established through the municipal development plan, and other policy-led plans adopted by the County." said Richards.

The new version of the County's Land Use bylaw contains a number of changes, including provisions to support agriculture through the inclusion of diversified agriculture-related uses. Some of the other changes included in the new bylaw include the creation of a specific 'urban growth area' section. Richards adds that the new document removes inconsistencies that have built up over the past seventeen years.

"During the seventeen years that Land Use Bylaw 7-08 has been used as the County's regulatory document for the determining of development permit applications, it has been amended 138 times," said Richards. "This has evidently created inconsistencies."

The new bylaw also proposes several elements designed to benefit Nisku and the County's business and industrial areas. This has been achieved by reducing the overall number of industrial and business land use districts from six down to four, in order to remove confusion and simplify land use for these areas.

According to administration, the bylaw will also increase choice for residents and landowners, champion agriculture and agricultural protection, and provide a better, more understandable planning process that reduces unnecessary burden. They note that this will support economic growth, whilst reacting to modern needs and requirements.