The Okotoks Municipal Development Plan went to a unanimous second reading at town council's latest meeting, following a few minor changes.

First reading was given to Bylaw 23-20, also known as "Uniquely Okotoks," in mid-August.

Senior Planner Amanda Brinda says one of the more noticeable changes was to the wording of a section regarding an energy consumption goal, where the word "net" was added for clarity.

"Net-zero carbon energy means that we can still use carbon forms of energy, we just need to offset that in another way either by purchasing offsets or planting trees or whatever we need to do to get to that net-zero. The term 'zero carbon' would, of course, mean that we couldn't use carbon energy at all which of course was not the intention."

From here, the draft plan is to be reviewed by the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board.

The process is expected to take around two months to complete, after which it will be brought back before council for third reading.

Brinda says it could happen later this year.

"It is a possibility; if the 60 days are all it takes, we may be able to get it through by the end of 2020, but there always is the chance that one or more municipalities may ask for an extension on their review simply because of the size of the document, in which case we would end up in early 2021."

She says it's very possible other municipalities on the board may have some changes in mind, with Foothills County having previously made some suggestions.

"One of them was a reference to local sustainable food, which was removed, and the other was a policy that related to the town maintaining a 50 year supply of land after annexation. They wanted further consultation before any more annexation would take place."

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