Developers in St. Albert are refusing to pay a voluntary levy for LRT or bus rapid transit expansion, citing a lack of consultation in the process.
Patrick Shaver, chair of the Edmonton chapter of the Urban Development Institute, said the city opted to implement the $100-per-hectare LRT levy without first telling area developers.
“We don’t have any details and we’ve never discussed it,” said Shaver, project manager for Landrex’s Erin Ridge North. “I can’t see why anyone in the development industry would support it because there is no background to it.”
Shaver said timing was another problem with the levy, coming shortly after council approved hikes to offsite levies, charged to developers to offset costs of underground utilities and roads in growth areas. Several of the fees were raised in January, leaving developers on the hook for an additional $95 million in development costs.
Chris Jardine, community and protective services general manager said those increases are part of the feedback the city is hearing about the levy.
“They’ve indicated that this is a contribution they don’t need to make,” he said. “They said, ‘We’ve got a lot of costs already on our plate.’”
The LRT levy was approved at the suggestion of Coun. Len Bracko. He said his goal is to show the Capital region and the province the city is serious about bringing LRT to St. Albert.
“What I was asking for was the support of the development industry for LRT,” he said recently. “I believe if we help get the LRT out here, it would help get business out here.”
St. Albert economic development advisory committee chair Malcolm Parker said the rejection of the voluntary levy isn’t a surprise. The contribution could actually hurt St. Albert’s economy rather than help it, he said.
“You just wind up getting people negative about St. Albert,” he said. “We have to be competitive in the marketplace for development and this doesn’t help.”
According to the Municipal Government Act, levies that do not go towards the cost of paying for services in growth areas cannot be forced upon developers. Given the city would not be able to enforce the levy Parker wonder why it was passed in the first place.
“If it’s voluntary, what’s the point?”
Mayor Nolan Crouse said city administration would put the levy on hold for the time being. It will be reviewed this fall along with offsite levy rates. He conceded the city should have spoken with developers before passing the LRT levy, despite its status as a voluntary fee.
