DRAFT SOIL DEPOSIT AND REMOVAL BYLAW NO. 869 – BYLAW AMENDMENT AND REPEAL OF THIRD READING

COUNCIL REPORT

TO: Council DATE: January 24, 2014 FROM: James Davison, MCIP RPP Planner MEETING DATE: February 4, 2014

DRAFT SOIL DEPOSIT AND REMOVAL BYLAW No. 869 BYLAW AMENDMENT AND REPEAL OF THIRD READING

RECOMMENDATIONS:

THAT Council repeal third reading of Bylaw No. 869;

AND THAT Council amend Bylaw No. 869 by

• deleting subsection 11(a):
  11. The Town Staff or Council shall not issue a permit to an applicant if the proposed removal or deposit of Soil would: (a) in the opinion of a Professional Engineer based on soil test samples provided and analysed at the expense of the applicant, be likely to foul or pollute the water quality of any watercourse;
• adding a fee schedule (Schedule B: Fees) to the bylaw.

AND THAT Council direct Staff to obtain consent from the Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development as amended in advance of third reading.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER'S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendations.

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES' COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendations.

PURPOSE OF REPORT

The purpose of this report is to explain the repealing of third reading of the bylaw and amendments to the bylaw prior to the referral to the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development and further bylaw readings.

BACKGROUND

The Draft Soil Deposit and Removal Bylaw No. 869 was given three readings in advance of circulating to the appropriate Provincial ministries for signatures on the bylaw:

• Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development
• Ministry of Energy and Mines
• Ministry of Environment

The ministries are looking for regulations which may be considered 'prohibitive' in relation to their regulations; should they issue a permit of their own, they do not wish our bylaw to prevent that permit from being executed.

The ministries have responded with comment:

• The Ministry of Energy and Mines has provided a letter indicating that they do not need to sign the bylaw.
• The Ministry of Environment requests the following line be removed from the bylaw:
  11. The Town Staff or Council shall not issue a permit to an applicant if the proposed removal or deposit of Soil would: (a) in the opinion of a Professional Engineer based on soil test samples provided and analysed at the expense of the applicant, be likely to foul or pollute the water quality of any watercourse;
• The Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development requires the approval of fees charged by the bylaw (as per the Community Charter).

In response to the additional actions required from the ministries, Staff has made the following proposed amendments to the bylaw:

• Staff is removing section 11(a) as above from the bylaw.
• Staff is adding fees directly to the bylaw by adding a Schedule B.

These changes require that third reading be repealed.

Staff had hoped to consolidate fees into a new draft Fees and Charges Bylaw, but given the Ministry's requirements Staff's opinion is that the fees be included in Bylaw No. 869 so as not to delay the adoption of the bylaw.

PROJECT INFORMATION

Subsection 11a Amendment

Staff has removed clause 11(a) from the bylaw (only the part in bold – precursor included for reference):

11. The Town Staff or Council shall not issue a permit to an applicant if the proposed removal or deposit of Soil would: ** (a) in the opinion of a Professional Engineer based on soil test samples provided and analysed at the expense of the applicant, be likely to foul or pollute the water quality of any watercourse; **

Staff is comfortable that there is provincial legislation to regulate matters of water quality and that this statement would be redundant if included in the Town's bylaw.

Schedule B (fees) Amendment

Staff has added a fee schedule to the bylaw. The fee schedule is added as below, and informed by the information provided by the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development pertaining to the fees charged by other municipalities. The spreadsheet of information is attached to this report.

SCHEDULE B

FEES

Staff's rationale for charging these fees is as such:

Medium Activity Application Fee ($50) – approved at Staff level This application fee is for the activity of moving 20-500 cubic meters of soil in a 12 month period. Staff wishes to keep this fee low to encourage permit applications. Increasing applications will hopefully reduce illegal activities and enable staff to better understand and control issues surrounding small project soil deposit and removal activity in the municipality.

Large Activity Application Fee ($500 plus Material Fee of $0.50/m³) – approved at Council level This application fee is for the activity of moving over 500 cubic meters of soil in a 12 month period. As this application is approved at a Council level, Staff wishes to reflect the costs associated with an application of this nature as borne by the municipality. There are increases in staff time associated with report writing, Council attendance, public inquiry, enforcement activity, and monthly quantity report processing. Additionally, there are impacts on infrastructure with increased wear and tear on roads and other capital assets associated with trucking activity.

The proposed $0.50/m³ Material Fee is consistent with other municipalities' fees and is designed to recover these additional costs for large projects.

The Material Fee is proposed to be capped at $10,000 which is also consistent with other municipalities' fees. Eagle Creek Village's permit would have just barely reached the cap as their permit is for 20,000 cubic meters of material. 20,000*0.5 is right at the $10,000.00 cap. The Plasterer property (~25,000 cubic meters) would have hit the maximum fee too.

CURRENT MINISTRY STATUS

The Ministry of Energy and Mines and Environment have provided staff and the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development a letter indicating no signature on the bylaw is required from either ministry. Community, Sport and Cultural Development acts as the administrator in this process, and will be the ministry to sign the bylaw. Once Council approves the amendments the new Draft Bylaw can be sent to the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development for sign-off in advance of bringing the Bylaw for third reading.

RECOMMENDATION

THAT Council repeal third reading of Bylaw No. 869;

AND THAT Council amend Bylaw No. 869 by

• deleting subsection 11(a):
  12. The Town Staff or Council shall not issue a permit to an applicant if the proposed removal or deposit of Soil would: (b) in the opinion of a Professional Engineer based on soil test samples provided and analysed at the expense of the applicant, be likely to foul or pollute the water quality of any watercourse;
• adding a fee schedule (Schedule B: Fees) to the bylaw.

AND THAT Council direct Staff to obtain consent from the Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development as amended in advance of third reading.

SUBMITTED BY: J. Davison MCIP RPP, Planner

REVIEWED BY: L. Chase MCIP RPP, Director of Development Services

ATTACHMENTS:

1. Amended DRAFT Soil Deposit and Removal Bylaw No. 869
2. Other municipalities' fee schedules (Provided by Ministry of CSCD)
3. Soil Volume Illustration