Enhancing Lacombe County's Parks and Reserves Management: What You Need to Know

Lacombe County currently has land designated as:

• Environmental Reserves (ER): intended to protect significant natural assets, prevent development in hazard-prone locations, and provide public access in and around lakes and rivers.
• Municipal Reserves (MR)): intended to provide a suitable land base for publicly accessible recreation facilities for the use and enjoyment of the general public. Municipal Reserve Lands can also provide undeveloped green space, access to lakes and rivers, and buffers between different land uses.
• Reserves (R): Reserve lands in older subdivisions may be known as community reserve, park or simply reserve. These designations refer to language that was used in previous legislation, prior to 1980.
• Environmental Reserves Easements (ERE): are a tool that the County can use for the protection of the environment in new subdivisions. These reserves do not have public access and remain under private ownership.

There are five key changes to Policy RC(8) that you need to know about:

1. Special Use of Reserve Permitting: To ensure that our reserve lands are preserved while still accommodating various community needs, Lacombe County will now require special use of reserve land permits to authorize activities in these areas. These activities include beach clean-ups, winter storage of docks and boat lifts, and maintenance of licensed encroachments.
   
   This addition allows better monitoring of activities on County lands and provides clear guidance to users regarding permissible activities on reserve lands.
2. Encroachments and Unauthorized Structures on Reserve Lands: To ensure responsible land use, a provision for the construction of new encroachments and the licensing of existing encroachments on County reserve lands in areas without public access facilities has been included. Encroachment agreement requests will be reviewed by the County Manager, considering environmental impact, existing public access facilities, access constraints, and the design of the encroachment.
   
   This addition helps maintain the integrity of reserve lands while allowing for responsible development.
3. Use of Encroachment Agreement Fees: Encroachment Agreement Fees will now be collected and placed in a reserve fund, earmarked for the future enhancement of County reserve lands or the development of public access facilities on lands without such facilities. Previously, these funds were collected as general revenue.
   
   This new approach ensures that the money generated from encroachments directly benefits the preservation and enhancement of the County's natural areas.
4. Reclamation Requirements: To address the need for accountability, reclamation requirements have been added to clarify the process when reserve lands are damaged.
   
   This change ensures that damaged areas are restored appropriately, safeguarding the beauty and ecological health of our reserve lands.
5. Removal of Unauthorized Items: Unauthorized items on County reserve lands will now be managed with greater transparency. Items will have a notification physically posted, indicating the County’s intent to remove them. This notice will include contact information and associated removal time lines. Items unclaimed will be removed by the County and disposed of at its discretion.
   
   This change helps maintain the cleanliness and safety of our reserve lands while allowing items to be retrieved.