St. Albert will lose the Avenir development if council doesn't provide an endorsement on July 11, say the project's proponents.
Avenir's backers didn't get what they wanted Monday night, which was second reading of a request to amend the municipal development plan (MDP) and a date set for third reading. These steps would have provided clarity for the developer and its investors, said project proponent Gerry de Klerk, CEO of Rampart Capital Corp.
The proposal has received first reading and is in the midst of a public hearing. Rather than close the hearing and move second reading, council adjourned the hearing to await required input from the Capital Region Board (CRB). Council decided to resume the hearing July 11, prompting Rampart Avenir to issue an ultimatum.
"If second and third reading isn't passed July 11, Avenir — for St. Albert at least — is dead and it will move up the road somewhere else," de Klerk said.
He said two municipalities in the Capital region are interested in being home to the Avenir concept, but he can't divulge the names because he has agreements not to go public.
Avenir is being pitched as a blend of residential, commercial and industrial uses. The concept is to incorporate cutting edge data technology to make the area suitable for companies and individuals who work in tech businesses, particularly those who service the oilsands.
Also part of the joint MDP submission is a residential development by Melcor and a conceived sports village that would include elite athletics facilities.
Questions linger
There are many aspects of the development that are giving council and administration pause.
For one, the entire mixed-use concept is a composite of three different developments. The land owned by Rampart Avenir would be developed strictly as residential whereas land optioned for the sports village would include commercial and industrial components.
Another wrinkle is a former landfill on the sports village land that contains construction waste. There is some disagreement between city administration and developers whether the proper plans are in place to remediate the site to allow for development nearby.
The situation is further complicated by the fact the city is trying to figure out how much industrial land it needs and where to put it. City administration and the chamber of commerce view the Avenir land as highly desirable as a light industrial park. Debate on the city's industrial land needs will come before city council July 4.
And next week council will likely hear three motions related to defining the amount of commercial development required in the Avenir/sports village development.
City councillors are interested in fostering more non-residential development so residents aren't bearing as much of the city's property tax burden but they are having trouble grasping the Avenir/sports village concept.
"I think the difficulty a lot of us are having, Mr. Bromley, is trying to get a grasp of the technological piece," Coun. Malcolm Parker said to Avenir project director David Bromley.
The original clean technology concept for Avenir called for innovation in the areas of food and energy production as well as the development of energy saving building products.
More recently, Rampart Avenir announced a partnership with Cisco Systems to build into the development cutting-edge data transfer infrastructure that would lead to the creation of Canada's first data utility company, Bromley said.
Next steps
The city learned last week that the CRB hasn't determined if the MDP amendments related to Avenir are complete, said city manager Bill Holtby, adding that situation should be resolved in the next few days.
Once council hears from the CRB, it can close the public hearing and proceed to second and third readings, if desired. The developers could then create area structure plans, which would map out the land uses in more detail.
de Klerk said he's already lost four investors to the tune of $75 million. He's meeting with financial backers in Toronto on June 29 to convince them not to pull the plug before July 11 when the issue returns to council.
He said he's sunk $17 million into the project for land purchase and planning costs and wants to see some reciprocal moves on the city's part.
"We feel that we have been ill-treated by this city," he said. "We've complied with any and all reasonable — and even unreasonable — requests in an effort to show everybody our intentions are right. We are here for the long haul."
Mayor Nolan Crouse said the city is following its process and he feels no pressure to move faster.
"I'm not concerned about anybody walking away," he said. "We're in the middle of a process … a legislative process that is a very good process.
"I personally don't feel the pressure of urgency that's being communicated," he added.
Crouse urged council on Monday night to restrict their attention to the "colours on the map," meaning the types of land uses being proposed, rather than debating the viability of the vision.
Overall, the debate around Avenir is a debate about how St. Albert should look in the future, said Coun. Wes Brodhead.
"The question is, as council are we going to buy it or are we going to say, 'no, that's just smoke and mirrors and it's just another group of houses?'" he said.
He likes the vision and doesn't want to send the developers packing prematurely.
"I have a vision of St. Albert that includes this type of development," he said.
The risk is that the vision of technological innovation and sports development doesn't pan out as hoped, he said.
"If the absolute worst happens what we have is a residential development that looks like the rest of St. Albert and is that all that bad?" he asked.
