Simmer says town knew new owner wants property rezoned

Todd Simmer, former owner of 365 Railway St. W. says town administration knows the property's new owner wants the property rezoned and is frustrated town council was discouraged from giving the bylaw final readings on Dec. 11.

Though he no longer owns the property, Simmer says he wants to clear the way for the investor as quickly as possible. The investor the change in property ownership was registered with land titles on Nov. 24.

Simmer provided information on a meeting held on Dec. 8 between town planning officials and the new owner's realtor three days prior to the public hearing to confirm interest in the rezoning the property from its current Industrial Business (I-B) status.

He also provided a copy of an Nov. 2 email from Russell Roberts, of Rulene Holdings Ltd. authorizing him to complete the zoning correction so not to delay the process.

There were several other emails and correspondence on the issue that dates back to December 2022, some of which he acquired from a FIOP request to the town.

Drew Hyndman, town executive director of Development and Infrastructure Services, confirms administration was aware in the recent change in ownership of the property in advance of the Dec. 11 council meeting. He indicated the same at that meeting.

"However, administration had not been in contact with the new owner of the property, nor had we received any documentation indicating their position on the proposed bylaw as presented," says Hyndman. "We intend to follow up with the new owner to confirm this information and bring the proposed bylaw back for formal council consideration in January."

Simmer isn't satisfied with that answer and says he has filed a complaint with the town's legislative services against Town CAO Mike Derricott and Drew Hyndman, believing there was breach of trust.

He believes the rabbit hole just keeps getting deeper.

"Forget about our loss, forget about the feelings, forget about whatever. Just look at it as if it's a magnifying glass on how the town is actually dealing with things, how things are done, how they're being dealt with."

Simmer had a meeting earlier this week with local MLA Peter Guthrie to discuss his concerns.

"The meeting was scheduled for half an hour, and we talked for an hour and 15 minutes. So, I'll say that it was a good meeting and I'm very happy that he met with me."

Todd Simmer with a copy of the petition that was circulated until Dec. 9. 

Simmer continues to follow-up his petition calling for a full inspection of the municipality. He has been in touch with the office of Municipal Affairs minister Ric McIver in hopes of arranging a meeting to discuss both the petition and concerns he has with how the town operates.

Simmer and his family moved to Cochrane in 2000 and established Big Sky Landscaping in 2004, completing over 2,000 residential, commercial, rural, and government projects. They continue to reside in the Cochrane area.

At the Dec. 11 meeting, town councillors seemed keen to make a decision after no objections came forward at the public hearing earlier that evening.

In the end, council postponed the decision until its Jan. 8 meeting to allow for confirmation of the new owner's desire for rezoning.

"Even though I want to put this thing to rest as quickly as possible, I don't see how I could possibly vote in favour of changing this land-use, when the only reason we're doing the land-use change was to appease and try to help the previous landowner, but now we haven't talked to the landowner, so I can't vote in favour of this thing until we hear from the new landowner," said Councillor Morgan Nagel.

It was Nagel's notice of motion in September that led to a report coming back to council to attempt to resolve the issue.

"It's too bad it's taken this long," Todd Simmer said during the public hearing, anxious to put it behind him. "It's pretty much close to a year anniversary."

Simmer says a week before the public hearing he was informed his business licence was valid.

"It's a little too late, not having a business for a year with a $3 million mortgage doesn't work out very well."

Bruce Kendall, a former RVC councillor, spoke in support of Simmer.

"In a situation where if nobody speaks against, I believe council owes it to the public, the landowner and the administration to find ways to make things more efficient. My view would be that If no one is here this evening to speak against this that council find a way to approve this as quickly as possible without putting it off until the New Year."

"I think it's a real unfortunate situation that has taken place here and I'm glad to see town taking steps to restore what I thought would have been a no-brainer in terms of what that site should have been rezoned."

Simmer believes how the matter was handled constitutes a procedural issue, but town administration indicated otherwise. During the public hearing information came out on there being a new owner. Town CAO Mike Derricott explained administration prepares a report prior to council reaching its final decision following a public hearing.

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