Thank you neighbors who have sent in your Feedback Forms, much appreciated. Hopefully, those remaining will send theirs in as well. Your voice is important!
Thank you to the handful of neighbors who contacted me with questions. If you have them then others likely do as well so I thought I would post the answers here:
1. Where will the sewage go from the event facility/hotel?
Initially into a large holding tank and be hauled away. Later when the play course is built it will go into a treatment plant and be dispersed below the surface to water the tees, greens, and flower beds. It will be similar to the system they use in Bragg Creek where sewage is treated and becomes purified to a degree it can be drained into the river.
2. Is the money to build this coming from out of country investors?
No. it is my money, and I am borrowing from Canadian banks.
3. Who is going to maintain the roads?
The respective County/Province as the case may be. There are ‘conditions and agreements’ that will be in place where I am required to make either contribution, pay for costs and the increased taxes handle the rest. This is done at the Conditional Permit stage so it will depend on which option is put forth.
4. What happens if there are too many occupants?
Then the Business gets fined by the County and even the Province. It is not in our or our guest’s best interests to be over occupancy limits. The booking software will have restrictions and our gate attendant will prevent too many people from coming in, and prevent impaired folks from leaving.
5. Do you intend to use grant money for this operation?
Not intending to as this is a business operation but there may be opportunities for corporations to use the facility for employee -team-building events, plant trees and earn corporate off-set credits. Other organizations may apply for grants from agencies to be able to use our facility for specific purposes.
6. How do you expect those 25-foot-wide RVs to travel down a 24-foot-wide road?
Sorry, you must not be an RV’er. Those rigs are only 8 feet wide. My RV stalls are 25 feet wide to allow campers to fully open up their slide-outs and pop-ups. But they don’t travel down the roads with those out, transport regulations allow 8-foot-wide vehicles in Canada, one of the states allows 8.5 feet.
7. Why were you able to get Rocky View County’s permission for the land-use change when others in both Rocky View and Mountain View have not?
It wasn’t easy by any means, it took two tries before Council, but before that, I first, had to determine the Canadian Land Inventory classification for my land – which is severely restricted for crops due to topography. Which here means a fairly steep valley that slopes to the west, rocky outcroppings, wetlands, and lack of heat. (the sun is blocked because of the valley) so the soil stays moist and impossible to drive large machinery for seeding and harvesting. Second, I had to make sure the land had access to enough water for a significantly sized commercial water registration. Both Stantec and Solstice did the requisite pump tests and data collection for this and confirmed there is sufficient water – high-quality water that will not deplete anyone else’s well. Third, the land lies in the Red Deer River Sub-basin. Then commissioned the Biophysical Impact Assessment, Environmental Assessment, Traffic Impact Assessment, Integrated Water Management Plan, and so on, at considerable cost. So, the short answer to the question above is – I hired professionals!
Why others in RVC and MVC have not been successful is difficult for me to say but I would have to ask if they went through the same checklist of requirements on land that was not prime farmland? Then if the land classification and water availability were favorable did they hire professionals? Or did they just ask the county officials and get an unfavorable response and not go further. I don’t know as there are a lot of variables and the counties process things differently and a large number of legislative pieces to negotiate.
8. Is this a public facility or a private facility and can the community use it?
Good question. It was designed to be a ‘closed gate’ facility. In other words, initially, I wanted to have it open for events like weddings, corporate retreats, family reunions, etc., and closed when not booked for an event. However, some of the area residents pointed out that they would like to use it – especially the dining room and the spa, oh, but what if I want to bring my family who is visiting from afar there with their RV, can’t we park it there? Do you see the dilemma? Yet if I say it is only for ‘events’ and neighbors – then there will be a discussion about what constitutes a ‘neighbor’. I just want to open, take bookings and work with the community on how it can best meet the needs of the community – stay responsive.
9. What about noise and the potential for fires? How are you going to handle that?
In response to neighbor concerns, I have revised the current ‘Proposals’ (see Proposals tab) so there is no longer a roof-top patio, the events will be held strictly indoors. At the same time, I decided no outdoor fires/firepits.
10. What about Wildlife?
If you review Proposals 1, 3, and 4 show wildlife areas (all of #1) but the existing corridors are reserved and shaded in #3 and #4. There will be no development in those areas allowing for wildlife to use their normal pathways. If anything all the proposals will enhance tree coverage and wildlife habitat.
11. Your hayshed is quite an eyesore, what are you going to do about that?
Yes, sorry about that. It was getting pretty worn out earlier but the wind storm of November 21, 2020, really shredded it. It has been too cold to take it all the way down so that will have to wait a while. I will decide what material to recover it with once the community consultation process ends and I have a new development permit. The options are to clad with metal, powder coat it and close the ends in or recover it with a new fabric tarp.
