Akinsdale residents opposed to a proposed affordable housing project say they've filed a statement of claim against the City of St. Albert and the St. Albert Protestant School Board.
The city is in the process of rezoning the land at 70 Arlington Dr. to allow the school board to sell it to Habitat For Humanity Edmonton, which wants to erect 34 affordable housing units.
A press release issued by a group of Akinsdale residents states they have evidence to support their claim that the property should be considered reserve land under the Municipal Government Act. Their opinion is that the land should revert back to the city since a school is no longer planned for the site.
“In reality that land was reserve land. Even though it may not have got designated as reserve land, it should be treated as reserve land,” said group representative Gerald Kress.
“We feel that's the way it should be treated so we would like the courts to decide whether or not that's the case,” he said.
A solicitor hired by Akinsdale residents has been trying since spring to get answers from the city on this issue but hasn't gotten any response, Kress said.
The city has pledged $840,000 to Habitat for the land purchase. The complainants believe the city should be able to get the land for essentially nothing, allowing it to use the $840,000 to pay for development and not land acquisition, Kress said.
The school board contends it has legal title to the land and has the right to sell it, a view confirmed earlier this year by Alberta Education. City staff have said in public meetings that the school board owns the land and has the right to sell it.
Mayor Nolan Crouse said council has been proceeding on the advice of the city's legal staff, with the understanding that council has the right to rezone the land.
“If there is a problem with what we're doing legally, we should have already known about it,” Crouse said. “If we didn't already know about it, let's get the facts.”
The issue is due to return to city council on Monday night after months of acrimonious debate, which has included public open houses, dozens of speakers in council chambers and a design charette aimed at gathering public input into the project design.
Monday's meeting may be the last chance for public input into the project and it's unclear whether this legal action will wipe the issue off the agenda.
“We're not sure until lawyers look at this,” Crouse said.
Kress is hoping to stall the process until the court can decide.
“We would like things to be looked at before anything goes any further,” he said.
The press release bears his name, as well as Dave Evans and John Richards. All three have been outspoken critics of the housing project and land sale process. The statement of claim includes 12 or 13 names, Kress said.
Kress denied that filing the statement of claim was an attempt to stall the affordable housing project until after the municipal election on Oct. 18, when at least two new faces will be on council.
“No, it's just one of the issues that we've brought up a number of times and they don't seem to be paying attention to it,” Kress said.
None of the allegations in the statement of claim have been proven in court.
