St. Albert's Downtown Area Redevelopment Plan, or DARP, was adopted nearly 12 years ago as a planning document for the city's core.
Council revisited the plan in an April 6 committee meeting with the hope of brainstorming new ideas for growing foot traffic on downtown's often sleepy streets.
The City also set aside $165,000 in its 2022 budget for a DARP project prioritization review to examine what will achieve maximum benefit for the lowest cost.
It makes sense for the City to re-evaluate a DARP made more than a decade ago. It might even be time to start over, and to accept that projects such as Millennium Park with its $12-million price tag, or development of a new Civic Square, may not be feasible in the short term.
Adryan Slaght, the City's director of planning and development, sees the lack of current funding for Millennium Park as "an opportunity for second thoughts."
Indeed, our downtown needs a complete re-think — one which involves the business and building owners in the area, along with the desires and needs of St. Albert residents and consumers.
A downtown plan calling for several large, tall buildings doesn't take soil conditions into account, or the idea that the funky little shops of the kind that populate Edmonton's Whyte Avenue and attract foot traffic need low rents to survive, but you can't build new buildings on costly land that offer low rents.
Council also examined the potential benefits of creating a Business Improvement Area for the downtown. The Gazette took a look back at the failed attempt 15 years ago to create a Business Revitalization Zone in one of today's stories focusing on our downtown.
Edmonton has 13 BIAs, including in 124th Street and Old Strathcona, which appear adept at addressing the specific needs of each business community.
The business population downtown is currently divided on whether to organize as a group.
What's clear is that it is their responsibility to work to attract customers, apart from any of the City's plans.
Coun. Mike Killick suggested the City find short-term priorities to tackle this year, such as temporary event space, adding, "if we just focus on the big-buck items, it'll be another four years before we have a vibrant downtown."
Yes, more actionable items, doable in the shorter term, is a sensible solution.
More events spread over the calendar year are a great way to stimulate an area, but our downtown can't exist on events alone.
St. Albert's downtown needs an anchor tenant, better signage, perhaps a grand entrance to signal to traffic on St. Albert Trail that St. Albert has one.
The City should also look at re-evaluating how ground-level City-owned buildings in the downtown could be better utilized to drive more foot traffic, or attract storefront shops.
Mayor Cathy Heron, in a recent editorial board meeting with The Gazette, talked about potentially shutting down Perron Street at certain times, mimicking the Stephen Avenue pedestrian mall concept in Calgary, which effectively cleaned up the riff-raff and revitalized the area. Supported by offsite parking and a transit solution, it's an idea worth consideration, and one the City could hop on in short order.
Grand plans are great, but the entire area needs a good review in a way that engages local residents and area businesses. Change for change's sake makes no sense unless it's meaningful.
Editorials are the consensus view of the St. Albert Gazette’s editorial board.
