MGA Amendment to Section 690
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association request the Government of Alberta to amend Section 690(5) of the MGA to oblige the MGB, upon determination of a breach of an intermunicipal development plan, to confirm that any significant breach of that plan is deemed to be detrimental within the context of this section.
WHEREAS the Municipal Government Act (MGA) is the overarching legislation outlining the purpose, powers, and capacity of municipalities;
WHEREAS Section 690 of the MGA provides for when a municipality is of the opinion that a Statutory Plan or a Land Use Bylaw, or amendment to either, is adopted by an adjacent municipality and is considered to have a detrimental effect on it, the municipality may give notice to the adjacent municipality that it intends to dispute the proposed bylaw;
WHEREAS Section 690 of the MGA gives the Municipal Government Board (MGB) jurisdiction to hear inter-municipal disputes between adjacent municipalities;
WHEREAS the current practice of the MGB with respect to the detrimental effect test is that an aggrieved municipality must demonstrate a "significant" detrimental impact thereby entitling the Board to give little weight to the respective agreements and bylaws adopted by the adjacent municipality and focus solely on the detrimental effects test;
WHEREAS Section 638 of the MGA provides that all statutory plans adopted by the municipality must be consistent with one another; and
WHEREAS in order to give effect to the legislative intent and provide due consideration of an Intermunicipal Plan, an amendment to Section 690(5) of the MGA is required.