A new bylaw approved by Rocky View County (RVC) council will govern special events within the municipality.
At a regular meeting Feb. 25, council unanimously approved the Special Events Bylaw, which Dari Lang, with Recreation, Parks and Community Support, said has been in the works since the summer of 2019.
“Administration recognized the need to design a co-ordinated, citizen-centred approach for special events to ensure information is provided to event organizers that incorporate a standardized criteria that achieves public safety and provides a one-point-of-contact approach,” she said.
RVC has more than 40 special event each year, Lang said, with most organized by non-profit groups.
“What we’ve learned is there’s some confusion out there,” she said. “People don’t know where they need to go for what and to get what permit.”
The bylaw is ultimately designed to make it easier for event organizers to hold events in RVC, Lang said.
Among the new processes under the bylaw, organizers will work with a single contact at the County, who will liaise with internal departments and navigate the municipality’s internal processes on the organizer’s behalf.
The Special Event Advisory Technical Team (SEATT) was also formed under the bylaw. The internal team will meet, evaluate applications and collectively make decisions on recommendations for safe events, Lang said.
The bylaw identifies levels of special events – large events, which include festivals, parades, concerts and circuses; medium events such as rodeos, road races and farmers’ markets; and neighbourhood or community events such as weddings, block parties and birthday parties. Lang clarified the latter, saying only birthday parties similar to block parties – outside, on the street and open to all neighbours – would require an application.
With the new process, applications for medium and large events must be submitted 120 days before the function. SEATT will meet to discuss the event and make recommendations 90 before the gathering, Lang said, and those recommendations are then provided to the event organizers by their County contact, at which point a conditional approval will be granted. Organizers and their County contact will continue to work together to fulfill the conditions, so that a permit is issued 30 days before the function.
“With the neighbourhood events, it’s even more streamlined, because they’re smaller events,” Lang said. “An application is submitted 30 days before the event, it’s discussed with Fire and Enforcement…and then the permit is issued 15 days before the event.”
A new page on rockyview.ca is in development, Lang said, where applicable forms can be easily accessed by organizers.
Fees related to the bylaw – permits and pre- and post-event road inspections – were established through updates to the Master Rates Bylaw approved at the same meeting, but non-profit groups will be exempt.
A notification requirement is also included in the bylaw, she added, where neighbours can be notified of the event through a number of avenues including RVC’s Safe and Sound Program, social media channels or door-to-door.
Lang said the process has been tested on two film productions and events in Langdon and Bragg Creek, and nine more tests are in the works. Feedback from those tests led to tweaks to the application forms.
“We’ve also received some very positive feedback comments, such as this is a far more collaborative approach, that the templates are really easy to follow, that the connection with one County person has been a huge improvement in the process,” she added.
The new bylaw was widely lauded by council, who gave it three unanimous readings.
“This is an outstanding piece of work, and I applaud your efforts,” Coun. Kevin Hanson said.
Ben Sherick, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @BenSherick
