Rocky View County (RVC) will continue using the same process to dispose of County-owned, fee-simple land as it has the past two years, following a council decision at a regular meeting Nov. 26.
According to Kent Robinson, executive director of Corporate Services, the County owns 110 fee-simple parcels – 58 of which, based on a preliminary review, are not needed for current or future municipal purpose. The list was compiled in response to a July 9 notice of motion by Coun. Kim McKylor, and did not include Municipal Reserve land.
“I’ve heard recently this list may have caused some angst in the community,” Robinson said. “This is simply a list that we’ve gone through, we’ve put our heads together – multiple departments looked at the list – and said, ‘Hey listen, does this make some sense? Is this something that we need, as a municipality, to keep?'”
Some properties leased to organizations like the Bragg Creek Snowbirds Seniors Fellowship or the Springbank Equestrian Centre, would be intended to be sold to the current occupants, he said.
Robinson emphasized administration could not dispose of any land without council’s direction. He noted County policy guides the disposal of fee-simple lands, and a decision of council is required before the property can be sold.
Administration recommended continuing its current process, Robinson said, which has been done in 2018 and 2019.
“Rather than take a passive stance on this and wait for applications to come forward, in those two years, we’ve brought forward a list to council to determine whether we want to sell these properties that we recommend in a given year,” he said.
However, Robinson noted the County has been slightly overzealous in what it thinks can be sold in a single year. In many cases, the transactions are with either the current occupant or an adjacent landowner, which results in a unique set of issues.
“What I’m learning through this process is, we need to take a better look at the amount of properties we include on our list on a yearly basis,” he said.
“There was a subsequent part of that motion that had to do with, should council decide to dispose of any of these lands, they be allocated for recreation,” Coun. McKylor said. “I don’t see that addressed.”
Robinson noted diverting funding to recreation was certainly an option – when the work plan comes before council, administration makes a recommendation as to where proceeds might go, and it is ultimately up to council to decide.
Traditionally, all proceeds from the sale of fee-simple lands go to the tax stabilization fund, according to administration’s report.
Following Robinson’s presentation, council voted unanimously to have administration continue to prepare annual work plans identifying surplus lands for disposal, with recommendations on how to use the proceeds.
