Many St. Albert residents voiced their support over one landowner’s input during an online presentation for a proposed area structure plan for Northeast St. Albert on Sept. 14.
The well-attended virtual presentation, which saw around 70 people show up via Zoom, outlined a drafted concept for the land east of St. Albert Trail that will be bracketed by 127th Street. This includes lands to be annexed from Sturgeon County, as well as those already within the current St. Albert boundary.
Landrex only owns a section of the land in the northwest of the proposed area structure plan (ASP), directly adjacent to St. Albert Trail. St. Albert has requested plans for the Landrex-owned parcel to be co-ordinated with the wider area which will be bi-sected by Neil Ross Road.
Stephen Yu, planning manager for Invistec, the consulting company hired by Landrex, described the drafted concept during the presentation.
Currently, the majority of the land in the area would be low-density residential; with some medium-density, which could include low-rise apartments and housing; and select high-density areas, which could include mid-rise apartments. Two school sites are identified within the plan area.
“No details are confirmed for either school site at this time, such as size or number of students,” Yu said.
“This latest concept is preliminary and could change based on feedback we receive today, and supporting reports in the ASP review process,” Yu said.
Invistec did not provide permission for a map of the concept ASP for The Gazette’s use at the time of publication.
With the virtual public meeting's completion, the next opportunity for resident feedback will be an open house, which follows a formal submission of the ASP draft to the city. Before the ultimate decision comes before council, there will also be a public hearing.
Walter Mis, a farmer who owns a quarter-section of land in northeast St. Albert, voiced concerns with the potential ASP during the feedback portion of the meeting.
One major concern Mis outlined is ways he said these new plans would interfere with previously agreed upon plans. Specifically, Mis pointed out how, in the mock-up ASP presented in the meeting, Neil Ross Road angles to the east, instead of angling north.
“The concern is all the discussions in the future, from our perspective, are going to be academic, if Neil Ross Road is realigned the way that it is proposed in this ASP,” Mis said.
Mis spoke for half an hour, detailing frustration that an ASP from Landrex looked like it was going to override the alignment of Neil Ross Road shown in the city’s own Municipal Development Plan.
“This is all developed from Landrex’s point of view, which is concerning to me,’” Mis said. “Landowners' land is being injuriously affected … and it appears to me we have very little say in this.”
At one point, a representative from Invistec suggested Mis continue the conversation in a separate meeting to allow others to also give their feedback. In response, meeting participants flooded the Zoom chat with proclamations of support for Mis’s perspective.
“Go Walter!” Grace Magyar said. “Thanks for this Walter! Keep it up!” Josh Machney added. “Thank you, Walter for bringing up crucial points,” Shelly Shumaker said.
After Mis had spoken, Ken Liu — Invistec’s principle engineer — offered to sit down and have a detailed meeting with Mis.
“We’ll work with you,” Liu said. “You want to continue your points, and we’re here to listen. We’re open to wider ideas.”
Mis said he appreciated Liu’s comments.
“I’m happy to hear you’re prepared to sit down and discuss this,” Mis said. “Of course, we’re interested in developing our land as well … we’re just as interested in getting the overall concept to be something that makes our development and Landrex’s development viable.”
Other residents voice questions, feedback
Other residents in attendance also took the opportunity to ask questions and voice feedback about the potential ASP.
Evgeny Tsybukov said for the two years which he has been a part of St. Albert, he has observed many animals migrating, such as deer and coyotes.
“I am really happy you’re trying to save some mature trees, but I’m wondering if you could try to make any amendments like a corridor through the municipal lands to make at least some of the migration around this area possible,” Tsybukov asked.
Yu said park space was utimately based off city standard, but noted city officials were on the call to hear Tsybukov’s concerns.
Don Thompson, who said he has lived in the region for around 10 years, noted the vast majority of the areas flood about once every four to five years.
“My view is that area should be attached to the Red Willow Park system and should be left as environmental reserve and not developed at all,” Thompson said. “There is utterly no way that area can be developed.”
Robyn Audrey asked whether low-income housing would be part of the plan.
“We’re not at that level of detail yet … but that’s definitely an opportunity,” Yu said.
Roads in northeast to be shared with Sturgeon County
While the northeast ASP itself focuses on some land that will be annexed from Sturgeon County, roadways for the plan will be co-ordinated with land directly adjacent that remains within Sturgeon County’s borders. For example, Coal Mine Road, which will become an extension of Neil Ross Road.
The ASP for this land in Sturgeon County’s land was recently approved by the county council on Sept. 20. It shows that 127th Street will be the dividing line between Sturgeon County’s land and St. Albert’s northeast.
In the Landrex ASP presentation, attendee Liam Connelly asked what the timeline for completing 127th Street would be.
“I’ve said to councillors and people over the years that if we are able to complete 127th Street … a lot of the issues — traffic through Erin Ridge, Oakmont, Bellerose — would start to alleviate,” Connelly said.
Petrea Chamney, a project director for Invistec, said 127th Street’s alignment has been done as a functional plan within Sturgeon County.
“Unfortunately, at this time, we don’t control that timeline,” Petrea said. “I'd like to tell you, it was going to happen immediately, but unfortunately, I don’t have access to that information yet.”
The Gazette reached out to Sturgeon County to confirm whether a timeline exists for 127th Street’s completion.
“Currently, there is no timeline in place for construction of 127th Street in our Offsite Levy Bylaw,” city spokesperson Lucas Warren said in an email. “This bylaw is based on a 25-year projection of infrastructure requirements, but is reviewed each year. As the region grows and changes, we will continue to work with St. Albert and the province to address any long-term infrastructure needs within the region.”
Invistec has added a feedback survey for residents to complete with additional comments and ideas for the project. The survey’s closing date is Oct. 3.
