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Faust resident opposes subdivisions
Mac Olsen
for South Peace News
Property subdivisions in the east end of Faust should cease because it will destroy the country residential lifestyle for those already there and because a proposed sewer line will be too expensive for landowners to afford.
These are Faust resident Natasha Burger’s arguments and she made a presentation to the M.D. of Big Lakes council Aug. 12 and wrote a letter to the editor.
“I understand that the waterline must be changed over from the mixed distribution/transmission line to separate lines – a distribution line for the Faust hamlet residents and a transmission line to the Kinuso area,” says Burger in her letter.
“I also understand that the request for sewer services to the east end of Faust came from a petition signed by some of my neighbours and while I do not oppose the line or good sewer management, I am not convinced that the line will be better than the existing septic tank and field systems most of us already have.”
She also says Faust is a collection of small acreages, many of which have livestock and pets, big gardens as well as peace and quiet. However, she is concerned about future land subdivisions and the affect it would have on their way of life.
“I propose, for the east end of Faust, no further subdivisions, no land use other than residential and livestock permitted on a non-commercial basis. I will be pursuing this with the M.D. through the public bylaw amendment process.”
However, Sunset House/Gilwood South Councillor Randy Ehman cannot support such a proposal, citing the property owners’ right to subdivide their lands as they wish.
“Unless you own all that land, I couldn’t consider it,” says Ehman. “We can’t take just one person’s dreams for an area and impose that on the rest of the people.”
Anybody can apply for land use changes, say Reeve Alvin Billings.
“Everybody has the right to apply for different land subdivision … orders. But that has to go to a public hearing,” says Billings.
To amend the M.D.’s land use bylaw, says CAO Jeff Renaud, would require rezoning the east end of Faust from hamlet residential to country residential.
As for the sewer costs, Burger says the M.D. has been approved for grant money for the project. The M.D. has agreed to pay the cost of the waterline, as it is replacing an existing service and not providing a new one.
The cost to the landowners for the sewer is partially covered. The remainder of the cost will be billed to each landowner on a frontage foot basis, as has been done historically in much of the area.
However, Burger is concerned because the east end of Faust is a mixture of property sizes. There is a great deal of variation in the cost each landowner will bear and many of the residents live a distance off the road the line will run down and are not able to hook into the sewer anyway, she says.
“At the high end of the scale, individual landowners will be paying $5,000 plus per year for 20 years for the sewer to run passed their (properties), but not be hooked into it,” says Burger.
“The neighbourhood has several retired or otherwise fixed income people who will not be able to afford this. What will they do?”
She adds it will be hard, if not impossible, to sell property which has such a high tax load. The only thing they will be able to do, in order to keep their homes, is to become developers and subdivide along their frontage.
“This is not fair and pits neighbour against neighbour in a small community where we all rely on each other.”
She says the M.D. has borrowing ability, does not need the cash in advance from landowners and should consider a more “ethical” billing format, such as the user-pay system found in water co-ops. As landowners hook into the system, they pay a percentage the cost plus hook-up fees and the later the hook in is, the higher the percentage cost.
Burger also says, over the next 20 years, most residences will likely be hooked into sewer service. The M.D. will have recouped its cost for the development without destroying the individual landowners it will be affecting with the frontage foot costing system.
“I ask that the M.D. do this voluntarily because it can afford to do so and it is the right thing to do,” she says.
Renaud says the M.D. has a proposal to run sewer and water to the east end of Faust. The federal and provincial governments will cover two-thirds of the cost under the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, which is approximately $2.3 million.
The M.D. would have to borrow the rest of the money.
To recover the costs, a local improvement levy would have to be applied to all land parcels the infrastructure would be built for. The levy would be for a period of 20 years.
A meeting was held in Faust Aug. 11 regarding the M.D.’s grant information for the infrastructure proposal, which Burger attended. She spoke about her concerns regarding land subdivision and infrastructure costs.
Burger has talked to her neighbours about her concerns and they were present at the Aug. 11 meeting. But she was only speaking on her behalf, not theirs.
Faust Councillor Violet Campiou also attended the meeting, but she could not be reached for comment.
Billings says Burger’s concerns about the frontage foot costing are valid and council will not go ahead until they find out the wishes of the residents who would be affected.
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