A group of Braeside residents has taken issue with a proposed condo development and land swap between the city and a developer in their neighbourhood.
Marilyn Wangler, who is part of a group that is opposing the development, said that the proposed 80-unit building would alter the character of the community.
"It's completely out of scale and contrary to the character of our neighbourhood," Wangler said.
The proposed development would see a condo building constructed at the three homes currently situated at 53, 55 and 57 Sturgeon Road. Along with wanting the land rezoned from a low-density to medium-density area for the project, the developer wants to swap a parcel of the current treed, sloped, low backyard area of one home for a piece of the street-front area of Red Willow Park next door.
Wangler, who has lived in the community for over 40 years, doesn't want to see part of the community's park given to a developer. Wangler took her children and now her grandchildren down to the park to play and is concerned that the land swap will impede the use of the park space. She feels the city should be protecting the parkland and not exchanging it for a private development.
"It's just wrong, it's just plain old wrong," Wangler said.
Ken Fenning, who has lived in the neighbourhood for around 40 years, is concerned about the value of the land being traded between the city and the developer. Land appraisals have been done but are not publicly available.
"It's basically a useless piece of land down there. It's not readily accessible. It's not nice property," Fenning said.
The group is also concerned that the stretch of land being rezoned for condos will create a concrete wall along Sturgeon Road and the river. Bill Whitney, who is the president of the Friends of the Sturgeon River Valley, a group that is dedicated to protecting the green spaces in St. Albert, said that he doesn't want to see a wall of condos and apartments constructed along the river.
"St. Albert loses by seeing a virtual doubling of the concrete and steel wall along the south bank of the river valley, that now consists of the Tenor condos and the Altura apartments," Whitney said.
Fenning said that the construction of more condos will create even more traffic and parking woes in the area. Residents are concerned that despite the condo unit creating around 120 parking stalls on the property, some of the parking will spill into the neighbourhood. They also don't want to see increased traffic on Sturgeon Road and Fenning worries that it will make it more congested and dangerous.
The opposition group is full of community members from Braeside who don't want to see the project go through. The group held a protest in November that drew dozens of protesters during the developer's open house and they have been trying to petition the city and council to put the brakes on the project.
Despite working hard to oppose the project, the group doesn't feel like their voices are being heard.
"There is no sense among our group that we have been listened to," Wangler said.
The group also has concerns with the way the overall development process is handled by the city.
"It seems to be a really one-sided process," Fenning said. "There is no way to challenge the stuff that goes on with the developer."
Wangler said that she would like to see the process include more citizen voices and make it easier to get information and speak with officials about the project. She would be interested in seeing a Municipal Planning Commission reinstated if it meant that more citizen voices would be involved in the development process.
So far city council hasn't approved the rezoning or the land swap and the project is still in the planning stages. It is set to come back to council in November.
