I will skip the gushiness of Mayor Cathy Heron having her "complete trust" in administration overseeing the development of the neighbourhood plans for the lands contained in the recently approved West Area.
What comes with the approval is the first step of what shall henceforth result in the abdication by delegation of council that neither they, nor the public, will have any involvement in the formulation of neighbourhood plans. It is now the exclusive purview of the director of planning and development to approve the neighbourhood plans. The concerns raised by Coun. Mike Killick over the fragility of the green space setbacks set out in Bylaw 14/2024 are now vulnerable to the discretion of the director. The March 2023 update to land planning in St. Albert sets out significant changes to public involvement. Residents should be concerned with this change, as the "devil is in the details." Council should be making it easier for the public to be involved and not setting limits that exclude them from discussions that will now only be between a developer and administration.
Ken Crutchfield, St. Albert
