A request to expand a popular Woodlands County campground raises concerns

A piece of property flanking the Athabasca River in Fort Assiniboine, located beside Woodlands RV Park and River Marina, was recently up for discussion around the table for Woodlands County Council. A couple of months ago, the campground owner put forward an RFD (Request for Decision) seeking to purchase the riverfront property to grow his business.

At the February 15 meeting, Council voted to defer the decision and requested a public consultation with area residents. On March 28, the meeting took place, and 45 people were in attendance to discuss the matter. Andre Bachand, acting CAO of Woodlands County, explained that twenty-seven comments were received: eighteen opposed, six in favour and three not applicable.

Comments opposed to the expansion ranged from potential noise issues to land access and riverbank erosion from the tree removal. One attendee said they were against it because it would lead to more jet boats and noise pollution, saying it “takes away from our peaceful, quiet community.” Some concerned attendees pointed to increased traffic causing problems, with others pointing to reduced access to open water as their reason for being against it.

Those supporting the expansion spoke of the campground owner as meticulous in maintaining the current campground and said they supported his plans. Others pointed to the financial support the campers provide to the community by shopping at the local stores and using local services.

The results from the public consultation were provided to Woodlands County Council at their April 26 meeting. The recommendation from Administration from the February 15 meeting remained the same. They recommended moving forward with the land transfer to the campground owner, less a 10m wide area along the roadway, pending a recreation plan approved by the County. Administration’s recommendation also included collecting all costs from the owner related to the transfer, including surveys, consultant fees and legal fees. Bachand explained Administration’s recommendation saying that the County’s Area Structure Plan for the property identified a pathway but nothing else. With the campground owner offering to open up a trail along the north side, the ASP, as it stood, was covered.

For Councillor Alan Deane, the feedback from the public was glaring. “I would not be prepared to support going forward with the recommendation from Administration. I would like to retain the area. That portion of land could then be wrapped into a Rec Master Plan for use as determined in the future. If we give it away, we cannot plan to do anything.” Councillor Prestidge agreed. “They don’t make new riverfront property anymore. The County has this, and I feel that we should keep it for future recreation use for the citizens of Fort Assiniboine and (the) area.”

Councillor Wilhelm said he understood his colleagues’ concerns. “Not being a resident of Fort Assiniboine, I’m taking a 30,000 look view at the situation, but this is a small business in that community that draws other people to that community which brings new money into that community every summer. One of the best ways to develop economies within our region is to help those existing businesses expand. I understand this land is probably very valuable, and it being riverfront is excellent, but that means it’s also excellent for this business to expand with.”

Wilhelm said that doubling the number of people camping in the region would double the money brought in. “We want to hold on to this piece of land, but we don’t even have money right now and have no plan to develop recreational areas anywhere in Woodlands County. In my opinion, we are just holding onto this asset for no reason when we could be bringing new money into Fort Assiniboine very quickly by allowing this person to develop it. There are hundreds of areas of riverfront access that Woodlands County could develop, I’m sure. Why is this one so special?”

Councillor Kusch echoed his colleague, adding that the topic has him torn. “I do understand a lot of the residents don’t sound like they want the expanse of the campsite. Some of the residents asked why we don’t, as a County, develop a campsite there, but we can’t afford to build it, we can’t afford to maintain it, and we can’t afford properly operate it.” He said he didn’t want to hinder business and private enterprise. Kusch also added that expanding the campsite helps the County’s plan for tourism and bringing people in to use what the County has. “But, we also have a lot of pushback from people in the community. It’s a really hard decision to get on top of.”

Councillor Kuelken said he was looking at it from a different perspective. He said though the current owner would allow public access, future owners might not. “We should look at this as an opportunity to develop, if the community so wishes to look at it, alongside the owner where we still have something to say about who has access to that property.”

Councillor Deane said his driving reason for not being for it was that Council hadn’t looked through the possibilities on the land and that nothing was within their strategic planning documents. “Until we have a plan for the area and until we know what that land might be utilized for, don’t give it up. If through a review of the master plan, (we) determine that the best use of that property is to partner, then we can cross that bridge when we come to it. To just give it away because there is a good opportunity, then it takes that option away from the County and the residents in the future to do something specific that would be public only.”

Reeve Burrows said with the County in recovery mode, he would like to see more done on planning. “We have to look to the future. What is our Master Rec Plan going to look like? What are we going to do with these facilities? How is that whole area going to look? In a year or two, or three, we might revisit that option to let it go after we’ve had a chance to really look through this from a planning perspective, but at this point, I wouldn’t support a motion to let it go.”

Councillor Williams said he’d had many conversations on the topic and agreed with Reeve Burrows and Councillor Deane. “Without an actual plan that we develop, it would be really not that smart to give it up.” He then made the motion to deny the request, retaining the land. The vote passed 5-2. Councillors Wilhelm and Kusch were the opposing votes.