KIPLING - Media and townsfolk were invited to a press conference on April 8 on Main Street Kennedy in front of the District of Cactus General Store regarding the latest developments of Dan Cole’s project.
“An integral part of phase one of this development includes the construction of a campground on approximately 75 acres, three miles from Kennedy in the RM of Wawken,” explains Cole’s lawyer James Trobert.
“Highlights of the proposed campground include, but will not be limited to, development of 30 campsites with corrals for horses, five rental cabins for people to experience living in the old way of life and a kids’ camp so the old way of life can be taught to our children.”
Trobert goes on to say:
“The idea behind this is to live off the grid without the luxuries of modern-day things such as cell phones.”
“In order to commence the construction of this campground, a rezoning application had to be made to the RM of Wawken under its zoning bylaw to rezone the land from its current agricultural designation to commercial. We do understand that the matter was considered by the RM council after our application was submitted, but by a letter dated March 11, 2022, the application was denied.”
“Despite requesting details from the RM of Wawken of why the project was denied, none have been given and while the council may be within their purview to reject and not give the reasons therefore, stopping a commercial development does deserve some explanation for the ratepayers of the area.”
District of Cactus believes that development of this site into a campground will provide many benefits to the area, including additional tax revenue to the RM of Wawken. In many small communities such as Kennedy and in RMs such as Wawken, bringing new revenue is vital for the continued existence of these municipalities going forward into the future.
The proposed site of the campground is on marginal land covered with scrub brush that has not been used for productive agriculture activities in many years prior to Cole acquiring the land. The tax revenue of a commercial campground will reap tax money many times over its current taxable value. Cole feels increased tourism will benefit the local economy in both the RM and the Village of Kennedy.
“The Village of Kennedy has supported this project,” explains Cole. “We have not asked the Village of Kennedy or the RM of Wawken to put money towards this project. We only ask them to allow us to do what our project is all about.”
District of Cactus is being developed for people of all ages to come together to experience the old-fashioned simple way of life.
Over the years, Main Street businesses in Kennedy have disappeared but Cole feels bringing this idea to the village is viable and feels it’s going to work because Kennedy is a cowboy town.
The plan is to change the downtown street back into the old Wild West theme with wooden sidewalks and stores that look like days from the past.
Cole is open to a public meeting with the RM of Wawken to decide whether or not to rezone the land from its current agricultural designation to commercial.
“Let my neighbours decide on whether I can have it there instead of just a few that sit behind a desk. It’s up to my neighbours. Why is it just up to a few people on what takes place in their area?”
“I understand they have a responsibility to the general public and the taxpayers, but at the same time the taxpayers should have a right to speak out and say whether they want my development in the area or not. If they don’t then that’s the taxpayers’ decision. It’s not a council decision.”
The RM of Wawken does note that the decision to decline the application for rezoning was made at a public meeting and was not done in private. Council's deliberation and the motion to decline were made at a regular meeting on March 10. All meetings of council are open to the public.
The RM of Wawken gave a written statement to the media as follows:
“As is allowed for under provincial legislation, the R.M. of Wawken does not have an official community plan (OCP) directing our zoning bylaw. This means that we do not have policies which would mandate the decision to rezone, and therefore any decision falls to council's discretion whether to approve or decline the application. In this case, it was according to Council discretion that the application to rezone the land from agricultural to commercial use was declined.
“One important factor in council’s discretionary decision was concerns regarding the viability and sustainability of the District of Cactus business model in the municipality.”
Cole has indicated that the council was made aware of the development plans for the 75-acre parcel of land. Did the council in fact receive any indication from Cole that a development like this was planned when Cactus first approached them?
“On April 7, 2021, Dan Cole emailed a copy of his general project proposal along with a development application to build two (2) small cabins. Other than this development application for the cabins and the recent application for rezoning, there has been no formal request to speak with council in regards to his plans.”
Cole has indicated that the plan he has for this parcel of land will include 30 campsites (with corrals for horses), five rental cabins and the “kid’s” camp, as well as the two residences that have already been approved.
“Mr. Cole’s formal application for rezoning stated approximately 60 full or partially serviced campsites, an unspecified number of rental cabins, RV dump, petting zoo, riding arena and various outbuildings. These would presumably be in addition to the two cabins that the RM has already approved.”
Rezoning a parcel of land commercial would mean that zoning would continue no matter whether the development was successful or not or whether or not Dan Cole/Cactus retained ownership of the land.
What ramifications would rezoning this piece of land as commercial have for future sale/use of the land and for neighbouring properties?
“The RM has made a conscious effort to support orderly growth in the municipality for commercial purposes and related activities. This is reflected in our bylaw 05/2009, which was an amendment to our zoning bylaw, creating a commercial district within the municipality. An important reason for this amendment was to facilitate orderly growth while also controlling the possible ramifications on neighbouring land use and valuation.
“Council must consider these possible ramifications when deciding whether or not to rezone a parcel of land, especially when it is outside of the commercial district.”
To date, only two of the four businesses that Cactus has in Kennedy are open with the saloon scheduled to open this week. Did the progress that’s been seen on the portion of the development in Kennedy have any bearing on the decision?
“Yes, this had bearing on council’s decision. As we expressed in our media statement, one important factor in council’s discretionary decision was concerns regarding the viability and sustainability of the District of Cactus business model in the municipality. “
It was also asked whether the RM received any feedback either directed towards the RM officially or brought forward to them personally, from ratepayers living near the proposed development.
“Yes, we have received a great deal of informal feedback. The feedback we have received so far has been overwhelmingly supportive of the RM’s decision.”
Cole has noted that all communication with the RM has been conducted by way of correspondence with his lawyer. Is this normally how a ratepayer who wished to propose a development to RM Council would proceed?
“No, this is not how these matters normally proceed. The normal procedure would be for the ratepayer to contact the office to request a delegate time to speak with council at a regular meeting of council.”
Has there been any attempt made by Mr. Cole to have face-to-face meetings with the RM regarding this matter?
“Mr. Cole has requested a meeting twice and cancelled the meeting both times. At this time, no face-to-face meeting has occurred.”
Cole has stated (through his lawyer at the recent press conference) that if council does not change its mind on this proposal they would be seeking a judicial review of the matter. If that is the case, is council still prepared to discuss this matter with Cole and perhaps explore what options might be possible?
“Although Mr. Cole’s lawyer provided us with a letter that they would be holding a ‘press release,’ he has not requested to meet and discuss anything further with council since the motion was made to decline his application to rezone.”
Is council generally supportive of unique development like this?
“Council is supportive of orderly growth in the Municipality for commercial purposes and related activities, and our bylaws reflect this. While a commercial development certainly does not have to fall within our defined commercial district, council does need to consider a variety of possible impacts and ramifications for these ‘unique developments.’ These include the long-term viability and sustainability of the proposed commercial development, possible impacts on land use, possible impacts on neighbouring land use and valuation, etc.”
