Granden Auto is an automotive repair shop which has been located in Blackfalds for the past twenty years, but recently they have been involved in a bit of controversy.
A social media post by Granden Auto on August 26th of this year claimed they were being unfairly forced out of business by the Town of Blackfalds.
The Town responded by saying that is simply untrue, and they have been working with the owner of Granden Auto, Alvin Melton, for some time now to get this situation sorted out.
The Town says Granden was originally zoned in the C 1 Downtown Commercial Central District, which is part of the Town’s Downtown Revitalization Plan. Under that land use bylaw zoning they are allowed to do automotive repairs on cars, trucks and other small equipment. However, within the last few years, the Town has noticed an increase in larger vehicles on their property that appear to be staying for long periods of time, as well as vehicle parts and storage containers on site.
CAO for Blackfalds Myron Thompson says they are working with the owners so that he can comply with his development permit, like giving him an extension to remove an RV which has been on the property since 2017.
Thompson says the Town just want Granden Auto to thrive while within their zoning, following the owners objections against the issuance of the conditional approval of a development permit for a change in use of his property, which would allow him to do things like repair RV’s, keep vehicles on their property for up to 120 days, and wouldn’t expire until December 31st, 2022.
“The municipality brought it to the Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) to approve the extension. He appealed the decision of MPC because he was concerned about the conditions that were put in place, so it went to the SDAB, Sub-division Development Appeal Board… and the SDAB allowed an extension until September 30th to remove the RV from the site. So, there’s nothing in it that we are trying to close down his business, there are no facts that we’re looking at the redevelopment of the area into a strip-mall and things like that that have been appearing on social media. It’s a thorough regulatory process, and just like anything else, if we have unsightly property or anything like that, it’s part of the regulatory process to uphold the Land Use Bylaw that the Town has to do. In this case, we’re working with the business and we want to see him succeed and we want him to stay in business.”
The Town said that by the time the Development Permit expires in December 0f 2022, the Town has their Land Use Bylaws amended to allow for his extended services. But in the meantime, Grand Auto is required to meet certain conditions laid out by the SDAB hearing, such as removing the RV.
Owner of Granden Auto Alvin Melton says he plans on continuing to operate business as usual, as him and the Town work together to make sure he's within his development permit rules.
“I just want to run a business like we’ve always run. We’ve been here for 20 years, we’ve always worked on RV’s, we’ve always worked on buses, but now the Town’s got a bee in their bonnet and they want us to stop doing all of that, so I went ahead and got the development permit like they asked me too, but they still put so many stipulations on it, that it’s even onerous to even do oil changes.”
Melton says the Town is placing unfair regulations on him that other auto repairs shops in Blackfalds are not subject to, such as being able to repair larger vehicles like RV’s, being able to do long term repairs, and have uninsured vehicles on the lot while they are being repaired.
OK Tire in Blackfalds, which is zoned at Industrial Heavy District (I-2), is permitted to do repairs on larger vehicles like RV’s and also have the ability to utilize an auto wrecking yard as part of their zonings discretionary use. They also say they are allowed to work on uninsured vehicles using a dealer plate.
Tireland (S&S Mechanical Solutions) in Blackfalds is also zoned differently, as they are under the Commercial Highway District (C-2), where they are permitted for “Recreational Vehicle Sales and Services” as well being a “Farm Equipment Sales and Service Outlet” and “Light Equipment rental Shop” under their discretionary uses. They too say they are able to repair uninsured vehicles.
As mentioned previously, Granden Auto falls under the Commercial Central District (C-1), where their permitted uses include “Repair Services” and “Service Station”, while their discretionary uses permit “Automotive Sales and Services (up to and including one-ton trucks)”.
Wed, May 1, 10:57 AM
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