Roughly 10 years ago, the County of Grande Prairie approved several permits for temporary work camps, as companies complained they couldn’t find housing for out of town workers. The last of those has been ordered to be taken down, as council denied a development permit application for one in the Minhas Industrial Park. The camp along Highway 668 was built by Minhas Bros. Trucking in 2006, but Reeve Leanne Beaupre says vacancy rates are now much higher.
“Under the land use bylaw, a temporary camp is just that – temporary; it’s not meant to be something permanent, and with the state of the economy as it is now there’s plenty of rentals units as well as hotels and accommodations available for those that would be working.”
Under the land use bylaw, the permit has to be reviewed every year and expired in May. The camp will have to be taken apart and moved off the property, but any improvements made like water, sewer and utilities can be kept in case they want to sell it.