When Richard Malolepszy's family purchased their home two years ago in Erin Ridge North, they bought in with the expectation they'd be near other single family homes, not high-density development.
"We moved from Ontario to live and work in the city. We didn't buy a $600,000 home to be boxed in by high-density development," Malolepszy said. "This will contribute to property devaluation on our street. For us, the net difference is not zero."
Some residents who purchased their homes in Erin Ridge North are upset with developer Landrex's proposal to swap single family homes with townhouse developments near them, while shuffling densities across different areas in the site plan.
Malolepszy said residents just want the developer to stick to the original plan. He can see where "a wall of townhomes" could be built from his backyard.
"You're promised a single family neighborhood with less traffic and less noise, but ultimately, that's not what they're planning to do. I think the original plan was perfectly fine. But now they're just trying to offload it and move on," he said.
The new proposal would exchange 38 single family homes for 134 townhomes near Neil Ross Road, would incorporate 63 townhomes instead of 26 single family homes to the north, and would include 55 single family homes instead of 405 apartment suites further north along Hwy 2. Instead, 217 apartment suites would be built further south near Everitt Drive North. According to Landrex, this wouldn't have an overall impact on the number of units.
Market demand, density behind changes
On Dec. 15, about 18 residents tuned in to a virtual open house to hear from representatives from Landrex, WSP and the City of St. Albert on the changes to the area structure plan. The changes wouldn't affect the total number of units, but would affect where they're built, said Chuck McNutt, WSP urban planner.
"Overall in the neighborhood, there's no change to the total number of units – there is a redistribution plan," McNutt said. "There's still quite a few residential units constructed in the northeast area ... medium-density is going up in terms of the townhomes."
Changes to market demand drove plans to build townhomes instead of single family, said Mike Yochim, director of operations with Landrex. He said single family homes are "not in a high demand, especially in this area."
McNutt said single family homes simply weren't a choice for Landrex to conform to density requirements set by the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board, so higher density builds were moved closer to newer neighbourhoods.
"We have to create neighbourhoods that are moving towards higher density areas," McNutt said.
The subdivision is already near higher density builds on Neil Ross Road and Element Drive North, including the Water's Edge apartments, Valencia on the Park and Eve at Erin Ridge townhouses. The 76 Eve townhomes managed by Landrex Ventures are in development, though none of the finished products have sold yet, according to the website.
Ryan Proulx, who moved into the neighbourhood last summer, asked if the developer would meet the density requirements with the original plan. McNutt said the plan does meet the new requirements, but the proposal would reduce the density north of Neil Ross Road and "take advantage of the urban village site" further south.
"My concern is this change doesn't need to happen based on density ... so with that in mind, I believe keeping the original plan would be sufficient," Proulx said. He said the changes will affect residents who already own land on Edison Drive and Encore Crescent, creating higher density traffic, more noise, and impacts to property values. Other residents also spoke of perceived higher demand in St. Albert for single-family homes as opposed to townhomes.
Yochim said he agreed the demand is going in the single-family direction, and they'd "love to have that product type, but we have to keep within the densities."
Several residents asked Landrex to clarify why they needed to change the original plan to meet density requirements, if the original plan already met them.
McNutt said they were trying to manage lack of "market acceptance" for the original 405-unit apartment building to the north, so to take it out, they had to shift density around to still meet the density requirements.
Malolepszy said the original low-density plan was why his family had bought into the area. "You guys just doodled it in, said this will be a good spot, and now we're facing the consequences of that," he said.
When asked how the feedback will be used, Yochim and McNutt said it will be taken into consideration moving forward. The plans are still in the early stages, with potential for a second public meeting before the application goes to council for consideration later next year.
