About 70 St. Albert and Sturgeon County residents showed up to an open house on newly revised boundaries for annexation Wednesday evening.
Currently, the two municipalities are doing public consultation on St. Albert's plan to acquire land from the County. The new proposed borders, which were released last month, cut out three pieces from the maximum boundaries, most notablly in the northeast along Bellerose Drive.
Residents examined enlarged images of the new boundaries, got information on the annexation process to date and were able to ask questions of representatives from ISL Engineering and council members from St. Albert and Sturgeon County.
Some residents were optimistically supportive of annexation, while others were critical of absorbing “precious farmland” and ruining views, along with potentially impacting property values.
St. Albert resident Lori Vandenberg worries future development will ruin a “gorgeous” walking area in Sturgeon County that is a stone’s throw from her home on the city’s northeast and drag property values down.
“We have one of the most beautiful views in St. Albert, it is stunning, and we paid a premium for it. So how does that affect our property values?” Vandenberg said.
A mere 100 feet from Vandenberg house is the old Bellerose Drive, which is now closed off. She said the old road is popular among local residents for walking.
“There’s a lot of unknowns, but I mean bottom line the two things you’re concerned about are quality of life and protecting your investment,” Vandenberg said.
Before the negotiation subcommittee agreed on new boundaries, a much larger parcel of land northeast of St. Albert – extending out alongside Bellerose Drive to Range Road 252 – was being considered for annexation.
Heron said last month that portion was removed from consideration mainly because it is an entirely new, small servicing basin that would not be worth the investment it would take to service it.
Vandenberg added she trusts St. Albert’s council to make the best decisions for St. Albert residents.
Sturgeon County resident Diane Kieser said since being in the county since 1960, she has seen more and more farmland gobbled up for commercial and residential purposes, and it has “got to stop.”
“I just think they should stop. They have enough land,” she said. “Where do you stop?”
While Kieser’s property is not included in the annexation – located just north of Highway 37 – she said with all the talk of food shortages in the world, municipalities like St. Albert need to stop expanding.
“I just think farmland is very precious. I go back to the food source. I think it’s going to become critical – maybe not in our lifetime, but maybe 100 years from now,” she said. “And then all the farmland is going to be gone and how do you produce crops, how do you feed the world?”
Another Sturgeon County resident, Len Jubinville, said the new boundaries are “good” and expressed support for planning ahead.
Jubinville is also outside of annexation boundaries, living near Old Coal Mine Road and Range Road 252.
“The City of St. Albert wants to be able to grow, well, it needs room to grow,” he said. “So I believe in planning forward.”
While Jubinville is not impacted directly by the boundaries, he said future infrastructure decisions will have an effect on him.
“I’m a strong believer that when it takes a person 25 minutes to cross St. Albert today, I don’t think we should be planning any growth if we’re not doing any roads,” he said.
In an interview last month, St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron said the negotiating subcommittee is trying to keep transportation issues out of the conversation. Instead, talks around the future 127 Street extension and other shared infrastructure would be part of a separate conversation in the future.
At the open house, residents could stick post-its on a blown-up map of annexation, and one of the notes read: “We do not want to be part of St. Albert. We choose to live in Sturgeon County.”
The two municipalities are currently conducting a financial impact assessment (FIA), which will help determine forecasted costs, recoveries and assessment, along with tax and debt impact.
An application to the Municipal Government Board (MGB) will begin early in 2020 and be submitted later that year. If any impacted landowners want to oppose the annexation, the board will hold a hearing after the annexation subcommittees application is made.
