Members of the public will debate the merits of a controversial proposal to set up a 400-stall RV storage lot north of town next month.
The Town of Cochrane has scheduled a public hearing Nov. 28 regarding the application by the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary, which is expected to draw mixed reactions from the community.
“The public hearing is a really critical step in this process,” said Riley Welden, senior planner for the town. “It provides an opportunity for anybody in support or opposed to the application to provide comments.”
Barb Gibson is a Rocky View County resident whose acreage is adjacent to the seminary, which is located north of Cochrane off Highway 22 and across from the upper Ag Society lands along RR43. She has lived on her property for 25 years.
“This is the wrong use for these lands in this area,” said Gibson, adding that she has done her best to be a good neighbour but has felt the situation with the seminary renting out RV spaces is “completely out of hand” and cannot fathom how the town would approve industrial operations on public service lands in a residential area.
She said she has watched the seminary go from renting out a handful of parking stalls to becoming a full-scale commercial parking site operation with an estimated 200 units (a mix of RVs and commercial vehicles) parked on their lands.
She feels the seminary has displayed little regard for the impacts this has had on its neighbours.
The application is for a land-use bylaw amendment to allow for site-specific RV storage at the Seminary (designated a public service district) that would include the building of 400 stalls for parking and a possible dump station (at the discretion of the town); the 160-acre parcel owned by the seminary was annexed by the Town of Cochrane from the county around 10 years ago.
The application does not include an RV repair shop or car wash bay, according to the applicant.
First reading was given to Bylaw 29/2016 at the Oct. 11 council meeting.
Ed Allan, maintenance manager of the Seminary said they have “been working on this with the town for a number of years” and that “the best approach to respond to any allegations or concerns will be best done at the public hearing”.
Allan said (the seminary) “loves and appreciates all our neighbours” and that no disrespect was ever intended toward neighbours.
He also said that given the town’s restrictions on RV storage and the number of people with RVs in Cochrane that the seminary is providing a valuable service for residents by providing parking this close to town.
Gibson is concerned over how the expansion of the facility would impact the view for area residents – including those living in the community of Sunset Ridge.
“I haven’t talked to one person in favour of this,” she said.
Her concerns also include the notion of building a chain link fence with barbed wire for security reasons around the waste station; the additional traffic that would result from the approval; and the negative impact this build-out would have on the property values of the Seminary neighbours.
