City council wants to buy the vacant school site at 70 Arlington Dr. either alone or in partnership with Habitat for Humanity.
The site has been the centre of an affordable housing controversy for the past several months and has for years been a thorn in the side of its owner, St. Albert Protestant Schools.
Council voted unanimously to have city administration pursue talks with the school board and Habitat to investigate whether the city could buy the land for the $840,000 price that had previously been agreed to by the other parties.
The goal is to remove the school board from ownership if Habitat’s current proposal falls through, said Mayor Nolan Crouse, who crafted the motion that council passed unanimously. This way, the school board and area residents won’t be forced to repeat a rezoning process that’s failed twice in the last decade.
“They don’t need this anymore and the neighbourhood doesn’t need it any more,” Crouse said. “They deserve a council … to have some intestinal fortitude to face this issue in 2010.”
Protestant district superintendent Barry Wowk was open to the city acquiring the land but stressed the board would have to discuss it and consult with legal counsel. It’s unclear whether the school board would have to open up another request for proposal (RFP) process, to allow the city to buy the land.
“At first glance it sounds to me like a very good solution,” Wowk said. “I think our district would be pleased.”
Habitat for Humanity Edmonton CEO Alfred Nikolai also liked the idea.
“I haven’t really thought about it but I’m certain there’s a way to do it,” he said.
Crouse said he intentionally left Apollo Developments out of his motion, because the city’s agreement is to provide $840,000 to Habitat to buy land. Council has many questions about Apollo but isn’t ruling out working with the developer, Crouse said.
The decision to pursue ownership came after council voted to start a public consultation process that will see an outside expert hired to run a series of roundtable input sessions aimed at creating an affordable housing project that will work for Akinsdale residents and Habitat. The agency’s 58-unit townhouse proposal has met with very stiff resistance from area residents.
Recommendations from that process are due by May 15.
The school board put 70 Arlington Dr. up for sale through a RFP in 2008.
Local architect Si Siren, who bid unsuccessfully on the property, said he doesn’t have a problem with the city seeking ownership at this point, even though the existing deal is between the school board and Habitat.
“Personally, I will have no objection,” he said.
Realtor Bob Russell, Siren’s representative and a former alderman, said it would be simple for the city to reject Habitat’s current proposal and then buy the land from the school board.
“There would be a lot of yelling and screaming but what the heck, that’s possible,” Russell said.
