St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron said Sturgeon County's growth plans shouldn't have much effect on St. Albert, outside of the development of new intermunicipal agreements which likely begin after the election.
Heron called the Sturgeon Valley — where much of the county's growth is focused right now — a unique area.
"When the EMRB was still around, we called it a special study area because it was just sort of unique to the region ... one- to two-acre lots with big homes on them. It's kind of unique to Sturgeon Valley," Heron said.
Sturgeon County Mayor Alanna Hnatiw said the higher-density targets of the Edmonton Metropolitan Regional Board (EMRB) didn't align with the targets the county was striving for, and was based on other cities in the region like St. Albert and Edmonton.
"I understand some of the reasoning behind that on affordability and rising costs, but it is a challenge to find something that suits a rural community, as it is on the doorstep of two major cities," Hnatiw said.
Hnatiw said most of the area is designated as mixed use, which has drawn some concern from residents already living in the area.
"The residents in the valley do not want large big-box stores," she said. "That is certainly not a part of our idea in a mixed-use residential setting. We're certainly expecting developers to come to the table with the community that will look very different from either of the cities that we butt up against, and that acknowledges the food produced in the county."
She added they hope to see smaller boutique and private businesses providing the day-to-day services rather than big-box stores and hope to remove barriers for their local producers.
"Supporting farm to fork as much as possible," she said. "It can be challenging for producers to be able to get on grocery store shelves."
With the dissolution of the EMRB in March, Heron said the only influence St. Albert could have on Sturgeon County's plans would be through the creation of an Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP), which is required to be implemented by 2027 in the absence of a growth board. Although she said the two municipalities haven't started on the creation of such a plan, that would likely happen following the election.
She said they will determine a zone between St. Albert and Sturgeon County and outline agreements such as assured density, infrastructure agreements, and stormwater for the utility side of things, she said.
"There will be kind of like a buffer zone between St. Albert and Sturgeon County," Heron said. "I don't foresee any problems developing the IDP. Just a lot of negotiation."
She added Sturgeon County's current growth plans likely don't mean much for St. Albert.
"We've built Kingswood all the way out," she said. "We're pretty much built all the way up north and just approved the Erin Ridge North Area Structure Plan that has a bit of development on the east side, but it's already planned. Nothing is going to change from St. Albert's perspective."
