Town of Fairview gives first reading to land use bylaw change

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‘Shouse’ construction

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At a council meeting on Apr. 1, Fairview approved first reading of a land use bylaw change, which would allow for “shouse” construction in town, or shop-house. 

Also known as barndominiums, shouses are buildings where the residence is connected to a shop or some kind of storage space through a common or connected roofing system. They’re usually built through post-frame or pole framing construction. With residential-style doors and windows along the front, they have roll-formed, steel-sheet exteriors. 

Regarding bylaw requirements of a “dwelling unit”, the residence part of a shouse would have sleeping, sitting, cooking, and sanitary facilities. 

The town provided a copy of the first reading of the bylaw amendment. 

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Tax and budget updates

At next week’s meeting, council plans to pass this year’s capital and operating budgets. While there isn’t an expected increase to the municipal tax rate in Fairview, the government of Alberta has set a seven percent increase to the education property tax. 

This means an increase on the education tax portion of property tax bills. 

“Education property taxes provide a stable source of revenue and equitable funding that supports K-12 education, including teachers’ salaries, textbooks and classroom resources. They are not used to fund government operations, school capital costs or teachers’ pensions,” read a document from the province. 

In Alberta, all municipalities collect an equitable share of the provincial education property tax, in proportion to their total taxable property assessments, and these are equalized across the province. 

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Equalization makes sure people who own properties of similar type and value pay similar amounts on education property taxes. 

This year, the education property tax is calculated at a rate of $2.72 per $1,000 of the total residential or farmland equalized assessment value. The non-residential rate is set at $4.00 per $1,000 of equalized assessment value. 

Water reservoir rehabilitation

The town of Fairview has received a grant of $898,470 for rehabilitation work on the treated water reservoir. The entire project will cost $2 million. 

Funds come from the Local Growth and Sustainability Grant. Minister Ric McIver wrote the amount that got approved is lower than what Fairview requested. 

“I understand the town has an application pending under the Alberta Municipal Water Wastewater Program and has some available funding under the Local Government Fiscal Framework that could be committed to this project.”

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