County councillors had water on their minds as they raised red flags over a proposed new neighbourhood in the Sturgeon River valley.
Council voted 4-3 in favour of first reading for the proposed Estates of Tuscany subdivision at last week's meeting — the last before its summer break. If built, the project would drop about 80 homes onto the lands bordered by North Point, Tuscany Hills, Skyglen Air Park and Sturgeon Heights.
The project, which is opposed by the cities of Edmonton and St. Albert, comes at a time when council is reconsidering its levy rates for the valley. It recently learned that it would have to hike those rates by as much as 210 per cent to fully accommodate its development.
Council has yet to address a number of issues in the valley, said Coun. Ken McGillis, who voted against first reading, and was already thinking about adding 57 homes to it with the Green Hennessy project. "We're going to get ourselves into a real box here with our water supply," he said. "We have to sort some of these issues out."
Council concerns
Sturgeon Valley Developments Inc., who could not be reached for an interview, held an open house on the Estates of Tuscany project back in March. If built, the 30-hectare development would include a number of trails and natural areas and house about 200 people.
While the region's pipes and roads could support more homes — up to 300, according to a recent presentation from Sameng Inc. — the county would need to add another pipeline and expand the Allin Ridge reservoir to accommodate this development. The lift station at Tuscany Hills may also need expansion. These upgrades would mean higher levy rates.
It's uncertain how much levies will increase, but a recent report from Sameng Inc. suggests it could be a lot: the valley as a whole would need about $40 million in road and pipe upgrades to be fully developed by 2050, which would require sewer, water and transportation levies to rise 50 to 210 per cent. The region's current water system is not big enough to provide proper fire protection, the report notes.
The City of St. Albert has written in opposition to the project, a report to council notes, as it would convert valuable farmland to residential and run against the county's municipal development plan. The City of Edmonton made similar critiques, noting that the plan ran against the Capital Region Board's (CRB) principles of preserving farmland and its density targets for the region. Both called for a new area structure plan for the valley.
The development itself would feature about 2.6 homes per gross hectare if built, according to council reports, which is above the two-per-hectare target set by the CRB.
That's denser than the rest of the valley, noted Mayor Don Rigney, which could set a bad precedent.
"We're in essence transferring density [without compensation]," he said.
Coun. Tom Flynn echoed these concerns, and said council needed to revise the valley's area structure plan before proceeding with this or any other new developments.
"We're asking for trouble if we don't," he said.
The county loses credibility each time it goes to the CRB with a development that's out of sync with its structure plan, agreed Coun. Karen Shaw.
"There are too many things that are not right with it," she said, and she could not defend this proposal before the board. She and Flynn voted against the proposal.
Council will hold a public hearing on the proposal on Sept. 13.
