The city and a Kingswood developer are moving closer to a resolution over building a park in the neighbourhood, one that would see St. Albert bear the cost of amending the area structure plan (ASP) to accommodate the developer’s concerns.
Canterra Properties and the city have been at a standoff over building a park in the neighbourhood since April. Though construction in Kingswood started in 1986, the developer has refused to build a park because of concerns over a connector road and the prospect of a high school being built in the area.
Coun. Cathy Heron brought forward a motion Monday night that would see the city amend the ASP to address the location of the future required school site and the central park.
Heron said negotiations between the city and Canterra have been productive to date and if finally approved would see the city become the proponent of the ASP amendments, which would relocate the school site and kick-start development of the park. Because the city and not the developer would be bringing forward the ASP changes, it would pay for the costs associated with the amendments.
“Now we’re at a point where we’re totally changing the ASP that will allow for the park and the school to be moved to a different site,” Heron said.
The city will hire an outside consultant at an estimated cost of between $10,000 and $20,000 to draft the changes because administration is “too close” to the issue. There will also be a fee associated with applying for amending the ASP and the city will have to hold public meetings and a public hearing. Acting city manager Chris Jardine said it would take months — likely into the city’s third quarter — before the amendments were brought before council.
Heron said Canterra has indicated it is amicable to the proposal, but nothing has been finalized. Guy Boston, general manager for planning and engineering, said the department has not been able to reach president Murray Brown for the last two weeks. Brown’s voicemail indicates he will not back in the office until next week.
Heron described the potential resolution as a “win-win” scenario.
“He had asked for the road and the school to be dealt with and he’s getting that. The residents are getting a green space in the middle. The City of St. Albert has done back flips to get this park developed,” she said.
Some councillors still had concerns, even if Canterra agrees to the proposed settlement.
“Say we go through this, we legally can do this, what compels the landowner to accept this?” Coun. Wes Brodhead asked.
“There’s always that risk,” Boston replied. “In discussions we have had with the developer, we believe we’ve identified the issue that will continue to allow him to move forward in this direction.”
In a previous report in April, administration had proposed simply expropriating the land, but warned doing so would cost more than $1 million and would set an uncomfortable precedent.
Mayor Nolan Crouse said the city would develop tighter controls to ensure a situation like this doesn’t arise again.
“That’s going to have to be in place,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to deal with.”
The future high school, which will likely be built by the francophone school district, should be relocated to an area adjoining Campbell Road anyways because high schools belong on arterial roads, Crouse said.
“If we’re in control, we can put the school site where we really want it, which is up against Campbell Road, across from Servus Credit Union Place,” Crouse said. “We want it against an arterial road. High schools belong on arterial roads.”
Crouse said it’s a win for the city because it gets the school where it wants, but loses because it has to pay for the amendments.
“The lose is we have to pay for what I would call a decision made 20 years ago.”
