Badlands Motorsports Resort jumped another hurdle as the second reading of a land use bylaw was completed by Kneehill County Council.
A public hearing into a land use bylaw to re-designate property owned by the developers of the Badlands Motorsports Resort from Agriculture District to Direct Control District was held last Wednesday. Proponents for the development as well as opponents braved the exceptionally snowy commute to make representations.
Kneehill Reeve Bob Long said it was a 4-3 vote from council on the contentious development.
“We deferred third reading until 2014,” said Long. ‘We have to have some discussion as a council. We are at the point that some decisions potentially have to be made. These are tough decisions. Information was presented to us, and as one of my colleagues said, ‘I need time to digest the information put before us.’”
He said both sides did a good job of making points that need to be considered at the meeting that went from 9 a.m. to about 2:30 p.m., which saw 55 presenters make representations.
James Zelazo of Badlands Motorsports Resort says it was a good meeting, and it went smoother than previous meetings.
Area resident Wendy Clark was at the December 4 meeting and says the turnout was evident of support that has grown for the Save the Rosebud group.
While it passed second reading, she said this allows the council to continue discussions.
She said their group has made an offer to the proponents of Badlands Motorsports Resort to purchase the land and to pay bona fide third party expenses to date.
“How else are we going to stop it?” asked Clark. “They have tied an Area Structure Plan to this land and one way we can get rid of it is to buy it.”
“It demonstrates the resolve of our community to protect the land … if we are successful and purchase the land, we’ll pursue some sort of agreement among landowners to protect the valley.”
Zelazo did not wish to comment to The Mail on the offer to purchase.
According to a Calgary Herald report, the offer to purchase the land is for over $800,000. It was also reported that Badlands Motorsports Resort are not seriously considering the offer.
