Concerns over Amacon’s proposed urban village in downtown St. Albert remain unresolved after council decided to adjourn Monday’s public hearing until April.
Amacon presented its new design concept to council on Monday, as well as the several land use bylaw changes the developer says are needed to achieve its proposed development on the former Grandin mall site.
“The amendments need to be incorporated … to help Amacon move the district and the development from a suburban to an urban-style development,” said Adryan Slaght, planning branch manager.
The bylaw amendments ranged from small “housekeeping” items, such as eliminating perimeter landscaping and allowing for the use of planters instead, to a complete overhaul of the site’s 2008 design, which would see the office tower refurbished rather than removed and the construction of fewer, but higher, residential towers.
But what ultimately stumped the public hearing process was Coun. Cam McKay’s request to leave three business types – restaurants up to 100 seats, liquor store and drinking establishment – as discretionary uses, which need to undergo a public consultation process, rather than allow them to become permitted uses, as requested by the developer.
McKay was particularly concerned because under the city’s current bylaw there are no sub-categories further defining the type of drinking establishments that would potentially be built next to already established single-family dwellings.
“As a permitted use, a bar could go anywhere. There could be noise issues,” he said.
Councillors also had questions about parking reductions, landscaping, communal amenity areas and the site’s housing mix.
Council passed first reading of the bylaw changes. It decided to postpone any debate until second reading to allow staff to present the potential impact of McKay’s amendments. The public hearing is adjourned until April 4.
Coun. Sheena Hughes said she appreciated the extra time to consider what amendments she might like to propose. Hughes was most concerned with parking.
Amacon is seeking a 10-per-cent reduction in the number of required visitor and commercial stalls. The bylaw currently allows for up to 25-per-cent reduction at the discretion of the development authority.
Administration explained that the site would be implementing what’s called shared parking – a tool that allows adjacent, complementary business types to offset each other’s parking needs.
“For example, a doctor’s office and a restaurant – finding those tenants with different peak times of business,” said senior planner Karen Oxley.
Oxley also told council that in cases where business types are unknown, such as in Grandin Parc, the city always errs on the side of caution, asking for the maximum number of stalls.
She believed that the 90 above-ground stalls and 407 underground spaces would suffice and that the development is being considered within a larger review of parking issues in the downtown core.
The adjournment also gives residents another opportunity to submit their views or present them to council.
Four residents spoke at the public hearing – two in support of and two against the proposed development.
Ross Guffei expressed concerns over parking and traffic congestion, arguing that the study conducted by Amacon’s consultant was not thorough enough, since it only examined the intersections located within the site and not the bigger impact the addition of up to 1,700 cars (the number of required residential stalls) would have on the city’s main thoroughfares.
Grandin resident Shaun Goodeve, who is also the economic development co-ordinator for Morinville, said he was happy to see the motion that would leave drinking establishments as a discretionary use.
Mark Reid from Urban Strategies who presented on behalf of Amacon, told council that securing permitted uses would allow the developer to better market their commercial spaces, but Goodeve argued that most business owners recognize that discretionary uses are “par for the course” and “understand how to work with the system.”
Goodeve also expressed concerns over the density of the site versus the amount of public amenity space allocated, stating that Grenadier Park would inadvertently become the development’s backyard.
But overall Goodeve said he was excited to see this level of development come to the downtown.
“I think that overall it’s going to be an incredible asset to the downtown core. I think it will bring more life, and more bodies in the downtown core will benefit the businesses,” he said.
The same cannot be said for several residents who sent letters and emails to council, expressing concerns over increased density on the site and the proposed height increase to the three high-rises.
Amacon is seeking permission to build two buildings at 25 storeys and one building at 20 storeys, instead of five 19-storey buildings. The Downtown Area Revitalization Plan allows for buildings up to 20 storeys along Sir Winston Churchill Drive and landmark buildings up to 25 storeys in height.
The public hearing will resume April 4 at 5 p.m. in council chambers.
