Land Subdivision

When you want to take out a parcel from a quarter section of land, adjust the boundary between two existing parcels or develop a multi-lot subdivision, the Municipal Government Act requires that you obtain the approval of the County. In order to enable consistent decision making by the Subdivision Authority, County Council put policies in the Municipal Development Plan. In summary the policies provide that:

• Every landowner has the right to subdivide a first parcel out of a quarter section. Farmstead parcels of no more than 10 acres and bare parcels of no more than 5 acres are exempted from having to make a financial contribution to the Rural Development Fund. For parcels larger than this the landowner must make substantial financial contributions on a sliding scale.
• When a landowner wants to subdivide additional parcels out of a quarter section, the minimum number of parcels that must be subdivided out is five. The only exception to this is when a second title existed before September 2009 due to fragmentation by a natural feature, a road or a railway and the remainder is at least 100 acres. This means that after the first parcel has been subdivided, you can only do a multi-lot subdivision. This process is more involved and requires several planning approvals, including an area structure plan, engineering studies and a development agreement which includes a security deposit for all improvements that will be transferred to the County (e.g. public roads).

The Municipal Government Act states that a municipality must make a decision on a subdivision application within 60 days of receiving a complete application. Usually we are able to meet this deadline, however if we do not, the applicant has the option of deeming the application refused and appealing it to the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board or enter into an agreement with the County to extend the timeline. Our subdivision application form provides for such an agreement. If the County does not meet the deadline the reason is usually that one or more government agencies was unable to respond to the referral of the application within the time provided, and has asked for additional time.

If you are planning to apply for a subdivision in the County it may be helpful to review the Land Use Bylaw and the Planning and Subdivision Guidelines in order to better understand the statutory requirements and the format and content requirements of an application. Also, in order to save time for you, please call us to discuss your proposal before you file an application.

The County requires that the applicant for a subdivision application dedicate 4.9415 metres road widening to the County in accordance with Administrative Policy 1.11 – Road Dedication (Subdivision) along all the road frontages of the quarter section. Road dedication shall be by way of a road plan and the cost of preparing and registering the road plan shall be the applicant's responsibility.

The applicant must also obtain written confirmation from an accredited Safety Codes Officer that the sewage disposal system complies with the Private Sewage Disposal Systems Regulation (Alta. Reg. 229/97) respecting the setback distances from property lines, bodies of water and water sources. Please note that any issues identified by the Safety Codes Officer regarding the operation of the sewage disposal system must be corrected before the final approval will be given to the subdivision application.

Satisfactory arrangements must be made with the County of Stettler No. 6 for access to the proposed parcel and the remainder of the quarter-section, including the construction or upgrading of approaches and off-site access roads, where deemed necessary. Please refer to the County's Policy 5.5 Installation of Approaches and Culverts, Policy 5.8 Road Construction and Policy 5.9 Road Specifications. You may be eligible for road cost sharing from the County (see Policy 5.12).

For multi-lot subdivisions you will be required to prepare engineering studies and enter into a development agreement with the County. Policy 5.16 Engineering Design Guidelines and General Construction Specifications describes the relevant requirements.

For multi-lot subdivisions you would have to provide a community name and street names (see Policy 300.8 Community and Road Naming Procedures).

You may be required to hard surface a road when your multi-lot subdivision is within one mile of existing pavement, or to provide dust control where your subdivision impacts other residences. The Municipal Development Plan and Policy 5.2 Dust Control provide more information.

The applicant must comply with Bylaw 1430-10 relative to making arrangements for civic addressing of the new lot(s). Policy 300.7 Rural Addressing describes the relevant requirements.

There may be many other aspects that impact your proposed subdivision. It is our role to advise you of these matters. Please contact us for more information.

Subdivision Application Form

Subdivision Fees

Jacinta Donovan, Development Officer

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Cara McKenzie, Development Officer

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Johan van der Bank, Director of Planning and Development

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