A proposed development on St. Mary Lake Road will not be tying into Kimberley’s municipal sewage system, but rather using an on-site wastewater system for each individual parcel.
Kimberley City Council approved a development variance permit on Monday for the proposed seven parcel subdivision on St. Mary Lake Road.
Read More: Council approves development permit for St. Mary Lake Road
The proposed lots will be serviced with City water, but sewer service will be provided via on-site septic tanks and effluent fields. The waste water system will be subject to the review of the systems’ design and construction at the time of each individual building permit application.
A thorough analysis of the property and possibility for on-site wastewater treatment was done by City staff and professional engineers at SVH Contracting.
The subject property comprises approximately nine hectares (22 acres), situated east of the Riverside Campground and Homesteads development areas between St. Mary Lake Road and the St. Mary River. The subject property is situated immediately west of lands that were recently developed to create four large residential parcels from lands formerly part of the Kimberley Golf Club holdings.
As explained in a report to Council, the existing area is currently unused, raw land and and was previously a mined sand extraction put.
SVH reports in their assessment that there are no existing wastewater systems, wells, or other features that will impact the placement of wastewater systems on the proposed lots. The lots will be serviced by community water system and therefore septic field locations are not constrained by well setbacks.
If the proponent were to tie into the City’s wastewater system, it would require a sanitary force main and lift station to push the sewage uphill to the existing system along Sunflower Drive.
“The dry soil conditions support the septic effluent discharge to ground with sufficient space for residential site development as well as the effluent fields,” said the report. “The recently developed lots immediately east of the proposed development were approved with onsite septic effluents disposal to ground a well.”
At Monday’s meeting, Council discussed the variance. The motion was passed with Councillors Kent Goodwin, Nigel Kitto, Sandra Roberts and Mayor Don McCormick voting for the DVP.
Councillor Albert Hoglund said he would be voting against the variance, simply due to the fact that the property owner has the ability to tie into the municipal sewage system but is choosing not to.
Councillor Darryl Oakley also voted against the motion, stating that the risk of effluent material ending up in the river system is too high, and that the option is available for the land owner to use the City’s system.
Councillor Bev Middlebrook was also against the motion for the same reasons, stating that it’s too high of a risk.
Mayor Don McCormick says that the assessment that was done is reason enough to allow for the variance.
“This is rural Kimberley, and it’s a bit of an anomaly that it falls under our jurisdiction,” said the Mayor. “We now have an option to develop this land. From an engineering perspective and staff point of view, this is a viable and safe option.”
He also pointed to the adjacent properties that currently use a similar on-site treatment system.
Manager of Planning Services Troy Pollock says that the idea is to catch any failures before they arise. There is a system in place, wherein each individual site has to go through a building permit stage including detailed plans for the on-site wastewater systems.
He adds that all costs associated, wether it is an on-site system or tying into the municipal system, are on the proponent.