A city resident has received a threat related to a controversial affordable housing proposal in Akinsdale.
The threat occurred sometime during the last week and prompted the city to change its protocol at the public hearing into a proposed complex at 70 Arlington Dr., which continued Tuesday evening. Mayor Nolan Crouse asked that speakers no longer state their home address prior to speaking.
Crouse said he had asked city staff to inform St. Albert RCMP about the threat, an action officials did not follow up on until Wednesday. Police spokesperson Const. Janice Schoepp said as of 1:30 p.m. the police had not started an investigation.
The detachment did have a member patrolling city hall during the hearing Tuesday evening.
A city communication received by the Gazette indicates that an individual came forward to the city stating he'd received some "hate mail" and didn't want to state his address publicly, as had been the procedure during the hearing's first session last week.
"It's disappointing that I've had to ask police to review one particular request," Crouse told the gallery before the public input began. He later urged residents to display proper behaviour and refrain from clapping or booing.
"Please don't embarrass ourselves in front of our neighbours," he said.
The city also received an unsigned communication that urged Akinsdale residents to boycott the census, Crouse said.
Concerns
The hearing itself was a polite but intense affair that lasted more than three hours. About 115 people attended, after the hearing drew more than 200 last week on its opening night. Of the 38 citizens who spoke Tuesday, 33 were opposed to the proposal and only five spoke in favour.
The most common comment was that residents aren't against affordable housing but that the 58 units being proposed for the 1.2-hectare property would put too many people in too small a space.
"If these homes were designed for humanity, maybe we would be on the right track," said Amber Emmons, who referred to the units as "sardine cans."
The proposal is a partnership between Habitat For Humanity Edmonton, a non-profit, and Apollo Developments, a private company. Habitat would fill 15 of the units and Apollo would sell the other 43, with Habitat holding a second mortgage for 20 per cent of the homes' value. This mortgage would require payback only after the first owner sells the home.
Akinsdale resident Dale Carter was one of many who questioned the structure of the partnership.
"This is an Apollo development with Habitat tacked onto it to give the entire development better public optics," he said. "This won't build a stronger community. It will do just the opposite."
The financing model is a variation of a method used by Toronto-based Options For Homes. But that model is delivered purely by non-profits and locals are leery of the inclusion of a private developer with the St. Albert project.
"We are concerned that the city is funding a risky project," said Lynda Flannery of the St. Albert Taxpayers Association.
Many residents believe Apollo or Habitat will make a lot of money on the development.
Apollo president Andy Banack has previously said his company is only getting back its costs and that, in effect, it's functioning as a non-profit model for this project. Private investors he's lined up will earn between three and five per cent on their money and donate these profits to Habitat, he's said.
Residents will have to wait until Wednesday to hear from Banack directly as he's scheduled to speak when the hearing resumes at 5 p.m.
Resident Bill Carew noted that there are more than 30 multi-family units listed for sale on the MLS system in the $200,000 to $250,000 price range, which is the target price range of the Apollo homes.
"If [people] aren't buying the existing real estate then why would they buy these units?" he said. "And what is the true cost of these units to Apollo and Habitat?"
Community consultation
Several residents also said the developers and city should have done a better job of consulting the community and that residents would be willing to collaborate on a more suitable development.
"We want to be involved in this project," said Trisha Boukall.
Many residents also don't feel it's fair to take away a green space that has been there for years.
Imran Hosein, a former sales rep for Qualico, which developed the area in the mid-1970s, said homes in the subdivision sold easily because it was such a nice area.
"We told everybody that the school site would be schools," he said. "This is what people bought."
Edmonton resident Toni Seerden claims her property lost 25 per cent of its value after a Habitat For Humanity project went up nearby.
The Arlington property has been the subject of rezoning applications twice in the last decade, each time failing due to resistance from area residents. What Akinsdale residents really want is for the issue to be settled for good, said James Whitehead.
"We are exhausted with fighting a development proposal every couple of years," he said.
With Akinsdale short of green space, he suggested the land should be turned over to the city and rezoned as a park. But, if this isn't possible, residents would be more than willing to sit down and collaborate on a more "reasonable development," he said.
Habitat helps family
One of the few who spoke in favour of the proposal was Lisa Crotty, who lives in the Habitat project built last year in North Ridge. Being accepted to that project allowed her to stay in St. Albert and raise her son, she said.
"The opportunity to literally help build my future is something that I will be eternally thankful for," she said.
A common fear among neighbours is that the complex, which is being proposed without basements, would be cramped and undesirable.
But Mission resident Val Merchant said he and his wife downsized a few years ago to a complex with no basement and no garage and find it very livable.
"I do not consider that we live in substandard housing," he said.
Project supporter Douglas Shoults made a tearful plea for the city to do the right thing for its citizens and bring on more affordable housing.
"I want to be a neighbour. I want to live in Akinsdale," he said.
The St. Albert Chamber of Commerce spoke in favour of the proposal because employees of its member companies need places to live in St. Albert, said past-president Joe Becigneul.
The Catholic school board also supports the proposal because its enrolment is in decline and the division needs to see more small children in the community, said chair Dave Caron.
