WHEREAS under the Waste Control Regulation of the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, a “storage site” is defined as a waste management facility where waste, other than hazardous waste, is stored, sorted, compacted, shredded, ground or processed, or collected and held for removal to another waste management facility; and

WHEREAS Section 13(4) the Subdivision and Development Regulation of the Municipal Affairs Act states that a subdivision authority shall not approve an application for subdivision and a development authority shall not issue a permit for the purpose of developing a storage site unless… 13(4) (d) the working area of storage site is situated at least 300 meters from the property line of a school, hospital, food establishment or residence or building site proposed for a school, hospital, food establishment or residence; and

WHEREAS waste collection sites where domestic waste is deposited by rural residents in storage bins that are emptied on a regular basis and transported to a waste transfer station or a class 2 landfill may be considered as “storage sites”; and

WHEREAS the collection of domestic waste in rural areas can be achieved by providing 6 or 8 cubic yard storage bins that are accessible to residents so waste can be disposed of at regular intervals to minimize the foul odor that may result from the storage of domestic waste for long periods of time;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Municipal Affairs amend the subdivision and development regulation to remove the setback requirement of 300 meters for waste storage sites that are designed for the collection and regular removal of domestic waste.

In rural areas it has been a standard practice for municipalities to provide waste storage bins (dumpsters) for household waste.  These dumpsters are strategically placed in locations that will best serve the residents similar to urban communities where dumpsters are placed in lanes for disposal of household waste.

The present subdivision and development regulations do not allow development of a dumpster site to occur within 300 meters of a residential property line. Any parcel that has the potential for being developed as a residential acreage or has an existing residence can be affected, including full quarter sections of land when considering the placement of dumpsters at a dumpster site. The current regulation makes it almost impossible to provide the use of this service to rural residents.

The AAMDC has no current resolutions directly related to this issue.

Municipal Affairs: Municipal Affairs agrees that this issue should be reviewed and will initiate discussions with key stakeholders.

While action on this matter was initially promised by the Government of Alberta, further action on their part has not taken place. A review of the MGA has been slated to commence in 2012, and the AAMDC is hopeful that this will take place. This resolution was included in the final Recommendations on Changes to the Municipal Government Act – Part 17: Planning and Development as one of the recommended changes.