Raymond town council reject Knight’s Crossing bylaws

Posted on December 11, 2025 by admin

By Heather Cameron
Southern Alberta Newspapers

During the Town of Raymond Council meeting on December 8, Council discussed the Knights Crossing Amendment proposal.

“Going back to our public hearing, it was a great opportunity for us to hear from  a lot of people through letters, emails, and presentations that came in,” said Town of Raymond Mayor Bryce Coppieters. 

A lot of the concerns, Mayor Coppieters stated, were directed towards the Municipal Development Plan and also the general idea of what people would like to see Raymond grow into.

“We had a lot of knowledgeable people that came in and did some research, and  helped me to get a better idea of where we are and where they’d like to see Raymond go,” said Mayor Coppieters.

Mayor Coppieters then invited each of the Councillors to express their thoughts on the proposed project and also on how the public hearing went in their eyes.

“It goes without saying that the proposed Knights Crossing development has caused quite a stir in the town of Raymond,” said Councillor Johnson. “As a relative newcomer to Raymond, I’ve been very impressed with the level level of public engagement and passion that’s been shown by the citizens of this town. Their views both for and against have been presented in very passionate and articulate ways. It’s very impressive.”

Councillor Johnson, however, was less than impressed by some of the ‘intolerance’ that people had regarding the varying viewpoints at the meeting. 

“I hope next time that we’re presented with a contentious issue that we won’t experience the same level of intolerance that we’ve seen this time,” said Councillor Johnson. 

Councillor Johnson also thanked the developers for being present at the discussion, as their presence demonstrated their commitment to the project, and their application actually allowed Council to become more familiar with the contents and workings of the Intermunicipal Development Plan.

“That knowledge base, I believe, is going to serve us well as we go forward in the next four years of our duties,” said Councillor Johnson.

Others on Council were of the mind that the Knights Crossing Development did not fit Raymond’s current Municipal Development Plan. Councilor Evans directed attention to the financial pressures that Raymond is currently facing and that he has heard that there are options for the Town to cut costs, including wages.

Councillor Evans went on to put wage costs into context, stating that in 2024, wage costs were $3.6 million and back in 2018, wage costs were $3.9 million, so there has been a decrease in costs, but major inflation and increases in cost of living expenses have also played a factor.

Despite that, Councillor Evans stated, the Town has done an ‘excellent job’ at controlling wage-related costs.

“We’ve run a really tight ship, and I’m proud of the progress that the town has made,” said Councillor Evans.

However, Councillor Evans also stated, there are only so many cuts that the Town can make without cutting into core services, which are essential for residents.

“To accommodate wage cost growth and mitigate inflation pressures, the town needs to increase residential property tax or property tax collected by roughly $200,000 per year just to remain operational  at current service levels,” said Councillor Evans. “Ridge Country housing, which subsidizes the housing to provide affordable housing for our seniors, costs the town $112,000 per year. Pool operating cost is $169,000. Our ice arena cost is $144,000. Our library costs us $185,000. The R.C.M.P. costs us $285,000. The fire department costs us $118,000. These services are important to our quality of life here, but we need to recognize that they have real and growing price tags. Beyond annual operating costs, we have significant liabilities coming our way that we need to be aware of. With the new R.C.M.P. contract renegotiations, we’re estimating policing costs are going to increase by $90,000 per year starting in 2026. Our community center is in need of serious repairs and remediation to prevent deterioration. We estimate the cost of that at about $3.5 million. We’re hoping for a grant for $2.5 million, but we’re still a million dollars short that the community is going to have to come up with. We have a 10-year Transportation Master Plan and mill rate figures. You could look at all those figures and think that the Knight’s Crossing Project doesn’t generate enough property tax revenue to make a difference. My concern is that if we respond to these pressures solely through residential property tax, the cumulative impact could put unacceptable strain on the people least able to absorb it, especially low-income families and seniors with fixed incomes. I want us to be responsible both financially and socially, maintaining services without pushing the burden onto those who can least afford it. I’m concerned if we do not seriously look at non-residential growth in our community, the residential taxpayer will need to carry this burden alone, and that can be challenging for some.”

Councillor Stewart spoke about how she took time to review the Municipal Development Plan and was firm in that any development coming to Raymond needs to follow that plan.

Council ultimately concurred that they need to take a serious look at the Municipal Development Plan and really come to an understanding about what the citizens of the town really want for its future, and the need to continue to include citizens in discussions regarding the future of the Town of Raymond.

A motion was made to approve second reading of Bylaw No. 1155-25: MDP 958-09 Knight’s Crossing Amendment, but the majority of the vote was opposed to approving second reading, thereby defeating the bylaw. A motion was then made to approve Bylaw No. 1156-25: Knight’s Crossing ASP, but it was opposed and the bylaw was defeated, Finally, a motion was made that Council approve Bylaw No. 1157-25: Knight’s Crossing Rezone, but the motion was opposed and defeated.