PROPOSED ANNEXATION AREA
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS What is annexation? Annexation is a legal process involving the transfer of land from one municipality to another. What is the process of annexation? Annexation is a complex and mandated process, which can be contested or uncontested. In contested annexations, the initiating municipality must provide notice of intent to the affected municipality before the two municipalities consult the public and attempt negotiations and/or mediation. The Municipal Government Board will review reports and provide a recommendation to the Minister of Municipal Affairs. What is the timeline for annexation? There is no set timeline for annexation, however, it has been estimated the annexation process between Leduc County and the Town of Devon could take between two to five years. What is the Municipal Government Board? The Municipal Government Board is an impartial and independent board established by provincial legislation to make decisions about land planning matters such as annexation. Who makes the final decision? The Municipal Government Board prepares a report and recommendation on the proposed annexation to be forwarded to the Minister of Municipal Affairs. The Government of Alberta will make the final decision. What areas of Leduc County are included in the Town of Devon’s proposed annexation? The Town of Devon announced its intention to jointly amend the Leduc County and Town of Devon Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP) in November of 2013. On Jan. 27, 2014, the Town of Devon submitted its formal letter of intent to annex roughly one section, or 608 acres (246 hectares), of land from Leduc County. The proposed annexation area extends east from the Town of Devon’s current boundary (Range Road 262) to the ravine and south from the North Saskatchewan River valley to Highway 19. Why is the Town of Devon proposing annexation? The Town of Devon is looking to annex land from Leduc County to support future residential and commercial development needs. The proposed annexation follows the logical infrastructure development that is occurring in the South Ravines towards the east boundary of the Town of Devon. Additionally, constraints across Highway 60, including high water tables, poor soils, active and inactive wells, pipeline corridors, wetlands and uncertainty
around the future Highway 60 realignment, have created numerous challenges for development. The proposed annexation will ensure that the Town of Devon has sufficient and economically viable land for development to support the growth projections anticipated for the town. How is Leduc County responding to the proposed annexation? Leduc County has entered into annexation discussions with the Town of Devon and is following the annexation process as set out by the Municipal Government Board. Leduc County is committed to a collaborative and cooperative annexation process. How will I be impacted if the proposed annexation is approved? As Leduc County and the Town of Devon have engaged in, and will continue to engage in, a joint planning process, Leduc County does not expect ratepayers to be negatively impacted by the proposed annexation. How can we get involved? Leduc County and the Town of Devon encourage residents to be informed and get involved in the annexation process. Residents are encouraged to contact Leduc County (www.leduc-county.com/ annexation) and the Town of Devon (www.devon.ca/government) for more detailed instructions on how to get involved. Who can I contact with questions? Questions about the proposed annexation can be directed to the councillor in your area or: Leduc County Laurie Johnson Senior Planner - Long Range laurie@leduc-county.com 780-955-6405 Town of Devon Milad Asdaghi Director of Community and Economic Development milad@devon.ca 780-987-8330
PRINCIPLES OF ANNEXATION In the absence of criteria authorized by section 76 of the Municipal Government Act and in order to deal with the various issues raised by the affected parties, the landowners and the interest groups, the Municipal Government Board (MGB) has developed a series of annexation principles. The board has developed these principles from the examination of the annexation provisions in the Municipal Government Act, the Provincial Land Use Policies and previous annexation orders and recommendations. These principles are based on significant annexation decisions prior to 1995 and a total of nearly 170 annexations processed since the introduction of the 1995 Municipal Government Act. In summary, these principles include the following: 1. Annexations that provide for intermunicipal cooperation will be given considerable weight. Cooperative intermunicipal policies in an intermunicipal development plan will be given careful consideration, weight and support so long as they do not conflict with provincial policies or interests. 2. Accommodation of growth by all municipalities (urban or rural) must be accomplished without encumbering the initiating municipality and the responding municipality’s ability to achieve rational growth directions, cost effective utilization of resources, fiscal accountability and the attainment of the purposes of a municipality described in the Act. 3. An annexation or annexation conditions should not infringe on the local autonomy given to municipalities in the Act unless provisions of the Act have been breached or the public interest and individual rights have been unnecessarily impacted. 4. An annexation must be supported by growth projections, availability of lands within current boundaries, consideration of reasonable development densities, accommodation of a variety of land uses and reasonable growth options within each municipality (initiating and responding municipality). 5. An annexation must achieve a logical extension of growth patterns, transportation and infrastructure servicing for the affected municipalities. 6. Each annexation must illustrate a cost effective, efficient and coordinated approach to the administration of services.
7. Annexations that demonstrate sensitivity and respect for key environmental and natural features will be regarded as meeting provincial land use policies. 8. Coordination and cost effective use of resources will be demonstrated when annexations are aligned with and supported by intermunicipal development plans, municipal development plans, economic development plans, transportation and utility servicing plans and other related infrastructure plans. 9. Annexation proposals must fully consider the financial impact on the initiating and responding municipality. 10. Inter-agency consultation, coordination and cooperation is demonstrated when annexations proposals fully consider the impacts on other institutions providing services to the area. 11. Annexation proposals that develop reasonable solutions to impacts on property owners and citizens with certainty and specific time horizons will be given careful consideration and weight. 12. Annexation proposals must be based on effective public consultation both prior to and during any annexation hearing or proceedings. 13. Revenue sharing may be warranted when the annexation proposal involves existing or future special properties that generate substantive and unique costs to the impacted municipality(s) as part of the annexation or as an alternative to annexation. 14. Annexation proposals must not simply be a tax initiative. Each annexation proposal must have consideration of the full scope of costs and revenues related to the affected municipalities. The financial status of the initiating or the responding municipality(s) cannot be affected to such an extent that one or the other is unable to reasonably achieve the purposes of a municipality as outlined in section 3 of the Act. The financial impact should be reasonable and be able to be mitigated through reasonable conditions of annexation. 15. Conditions of annexation must be certain, unambiguous, enforceable and be time specific.
Information courtesy of Municipal Government Board
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT BOARD’S ANNEXATION PROCESS *Information courtesy of Municipal Government Board
Municipality Initiates Annexation Proposal
Municipality provides notice of intent to annex territory to the Municipal Government Board and to the Municipality from which the lands are proposed to be annexed Proposed Methods for Public Consultation
Through Discussion, Municipality determines if the annexation is an uncontested application with complete agreement of all parties
Municipalities meet and negotiate in good faith
NO Complete Agreement
Must Attempt Mediation
If Not Successful
If Successful
Complete Agreement Major Annexation (125)
Provide Negotiation Report to the Board with associated documents
Provide negotiation report to the Board and explain why attempt at mediation failed
Board Advertises Proposed Annexation
If Objection Received
If No Objection Received
Board Conducts Public Hearing
Board Prepares Report and Recommendation and Forwards to the Minister of Municipal Affairs
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Considers the Board’s Report and Signs an Order-in-Council if Approved or Approved in Part
Annexation - Flow Adopted - December 1, 1999
Municipal Government Board Notifies All Parties of Decision
Uncontested Annexation (126) Provide required information to Board
Board provides recommendation for an Order in Council and pertinent documents to the Minister of Municipal Affairs
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta considers the annexation and signs Order in Council (if approved)
OTHER ANNEXATIONS
Proposed annexations Leduc County is currently facing annexation proposals from the Town of Devon, the City of Edmonton and the Town of Beaumont. Following three years of joint planning, the City of Leduc successfully annexed land from Leduc County on Jan. 1, 2014.
City of Edmonton The City of Edmonton provided Leduc County with formal notice of intent on March 5, 2013, to annex two portions of land from Leduc County. The west section of land encompasses the Edmonton Interntional Airport and extends south from 41 Avenue in Edmonton to the southern boundary of the airport at Township Road 500. This portion extends west from Highway 2 to Range Road 261. The east section of land extends south from 41 Avenue in Edmonton to Township Road 510. This portion of land extends east from Highway 2 to Range Road 234 and includes a portion of the Nisku Industrial Business Park. These proposals were submitted to Leduc County during a time where Leduc County and the City of Edmonton agreed to work together to coordinate growth in the region. Both municipalities signed a letter of intent, dated April 11, 2012, which detailed a one-year collaborative process the two municipalities would engage in to coordinate growth.
Town of Beaumont The Town of Beaumont provided Leduc County with a notice of intent to annex 24 quarter sections of land, or 3,760 acres, from Leduc County, on April 30, 2013. On Feb. 11, 2014, Town of Beaumont council motioned to proceed with an annexation application to the Municipal Government Board. This annexation application identifies 21 quarter sections of land, or 3,320 acres. The area identified in the Town of Beaumont’s annexation application are identified as priority growth areas in the Capital Region Plan. If approved, the proposed annexation would more than double the Town of Beaumont’s current size.
City of Leduc On Jan. 1, 2014, the City of Leduc successfully annexed 1,300 acres of land from Leduc County. Both municipalities followed a three-year joint-planning process, together completing a growth study and joint intermunicipal plan. This model process led to an annexation approval with no objections received by the Municipal Government Board.
GET INFORMED. GET INVOLVED. LEDUC-COUNTY.COM/ANNEXATION