Meadowview Drive (Alberta) residents expressed concerns against a proposal that could see go-carts and an RV park constructed across the road from a local golf course.
According to a report, the Sturgeon County council held a public hearing on the possibility of rezoning around 28 acres of land north of the Meadowview Golf and Country Club to recreational from agriculture.
A significant number of residents expressed their displeasure with the rezoning during the public hearing on April 12, at which 72 residents signed an open letter to the council stating their opposition.
About 32 residents protested on St. Albert’s Grain Elevator Park on April 7 to organize opposition against the proposed rezoning.
Resident Rob Petz said many area residents were caught off guard by the proposal, considering the only thing they’d heard about was a possible driving range.
“We live in a beautiful area with lots of wildlife,” he said at the rally, and these lands are host to many moose, deer, and migratory birds.
We’re going to lose all that,” he said, adding that he is concerned with how development here will affect nearby Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park.
Resident Brian Tebbs said locals have been suffering for years from unsafe roads on Meadowview Drive and have experienced a significant increase in traffic volume due to the expansion of Ray Gibbon Drive.
This rezoning could pose safety hazards due to the long lines of vehicles turning into the proposed RV park and drunken golfers driving golf carts along Meadowview.
Speakers at the public hearing expressed concerns over traffic, sewage, trespassing, noise from squealing tires and late-night parties, trash blowing off-site, and environmental impacts on Big Lake.
Tony Druett of the Big Lake Environment Support Society said the proposed go-carts, RV park, and the large building could be potentially very prejudicial for the development of Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park and could impede the scenic views along Meadowview Drive.
Speaking on behalf of the developer, Morinville lawyer Gordon Putnam claimed that the region is already flanked by recreational lands and disputed the development’s noise impacts.
This story originally appeared on St. Albert Today.