St. Albert's oldest new subdivision will likely have a new name by next week after city council updated the area structure plan (ASP) for the neighbourhood.
Timberlea, located to the city's west, was originally approved by the council of the day in 2005. Council unanimously passed a motion Monday night tentatively renaming the subdivision Riverside. The name change will become permanent next week when council gives third reading to a pair of bylaws amending the ASP. The planning department recommended against giving third reading to the two bylaws on Monday to give it time to incorporate the name change into the ASP before it is officially passed.
"Clearly it's a much easier brand to sell," said Coun. Cam MacKay. "Riverside explains perfectly where it is in town and what it does. From our point of view, it doesn't have a lot of downside."
The change would make Riverside the second neighbourhood in the city starting with the letter 'R,' with Riel being the first. MacKay recommended looking up local historical figures with the letter R in their names for future street names.
Planning and engineering general manager Guy Boston said the landowners asked for the change because they wanted to shift the focus onto the Sturgeon River, which is adjacent to the subdivision.
"The focus was on the river, which is a very serious amenity for that area, hence the name Riverside," Boston said.
Procedure
The substantive focus of Monday night's public hearings was to change parts of the ASP to bring it into line with recent changes to the city's municipal development plan. The original ASP was passed in 2005 and some items were no longer in compliance with the changes. Both the city and the developer submitted amendments.
From the city's perspective, specific changes were required to reflect new policy, such as last year's decision to change the designated flood line, clarifying what was municipal reserve and what was environmental, incorporating the formal designation of the Grey Nuns White Spruce Park, the completion of the formal right-of-way for Ray Gibbon Drive and the repeal of the intermunicipal development plan (IDP) by Sturgeon County.
"This provides greater clarity if they have questions about development," planner Karen Oxley said.
Council gave all three readings to its changes, which effectively repealed the old ASP and replaced it with the new draft. Council did not give all three readings to the developer's proposed changes in order to allow time to incorporate the name change.
The proposed changes were numerous but small, involving the rezoning of previous lands to different designations and the relocation of a stormwater management facility.
Mayor Nolan Crouse asked administration if it could require the developers begin work on trails that would connect with Red Willow Park sooner rather than later. Council has been trying resolve an issue with an outstanding school site and park in Kingswood on which the developer has refused to develop despite its location in the ASP.
Carol Bergum, the city's long-range planner, said council has no policy requiring any action.
"We have the potential of continuing that. We will be working with the developers and as we move forward we can work with them on that," Bergum said.
Crouse said he was happy with the changes, especially with the name change, which gives the city some flexibility with future subdivisions.
"We had looked at opportunities at spreading out the letters. This lets you use R, holds the Ts so you don't run out of letters. The only thing that was on the T, Timberlea was just on paper. This will only take days and Timberlea will be gone."
