In the coming years, the City of St. Albert plans to build a new fire hall, an arena, a library and more.
But where will these, and many other capital projects, be located?
That’s the question the city and council are starting to try and address as a corporate land strategy is considered.
Guiding principles and annual reporting for such a policy were received for information on Tuesday, with councillors asked to provide feedback and a draft policy expected back later this year.
St. Albert owns about 16 per cent of the land in St. Albert, said Build St. Albert director Monique St. Louis. It amounts to about 1,974 acres of land, more than half of which is categorized as parks.
Using the 10-year capital plan, the anticipated school sites required, affordable housing land needs and downtown land needs, staff have calculated that 99.9 acres is needed for the city’s requirements in the next 10 years.
And while there are some empty lots, much of the land already owned by the city is in use, one way or another, already. The city owns some large parcels in the northwest in the Badger Lands and Riverlot 7 and Riverlot 8, but none of that land is yet serviced.
“Ultimately the city does not own large tracts of land that can be immediately utilized for civic infrastructure,” St. Louis said.
The majority of that nearly 100 acres is needed within five years, St. Louis’ report said, with 63.5 acres needed.
If the city needs to pay for land, there are two reserves, one for major recreational lands and facilities and one for municipal land and facilities, that council could tap.
The major recreational lands and facilities fund had a balance of $1.93-million as of Dec. 31, 2015, while the municipal land and facility reserve was in deficit.
An anticipated sale of 65 Carleton Drive, appraised at $1.78-million, is expected to take care of the $443,076 deficit in that account, though.
The draft guiding principles presented on Tuesday include identifying land requirements five years in advance, considering repurposing already used civic land, potential for using alternative models like partnerships, council’s authority in the final site selection and a transparent and comprehensive community engagement process for land allocation.
The report was supposed to be accompanied by a closed door session with council, but that in camera meeting has been delayed.
“I wish we could have had the in camera tonight to keep this all in context,” said Mayor Nolan Crouse.
He said it’s almost disappointing there hasn’t been this kind of strategy before, getting ready for the next generation’s land needs.
“We need park and rides, we need fire halls, we need land for all kinds of purposes in the future,” he said.
In an interview, Crouse said some past land purchases, like the river lots in what the city calls the Employment Lands, have been done without an overarching vision. There’s been buying and selling with no particular strategy.
“We’ve got bits and pieces all over the city, but there’s no strategy for it, there’s no plans for any of it,” Crouse said.
The city’s not necessarily in an urgent space crunch, he said, especially if the Badger Lands are tapped for a “long list of needs,” but it isn’t serviced yet and might not be the best location for some of the facilities.
Crouse said he’s happy there is finally work being done to develop a strategy for how the city handles land.
