An end could be in sight for a battle between the City of St. Albert and developer Canterra that has lasted more than a decade.
Coun. Natalie Joly has submitted a notice of motion to direct St. Albert's chief administrative officer to expropriate remaining municipal reserve lands in the Pineview II /Kingswood Area Structure Plan (ASP), the city announced in a news release last week.
Expropriation is when a government seizes private lands for public use, such as for a park or a school site, usually with compensation to the owner. There are approximately 4.95 hectares of deferred municipal reserve lands in the ASP.
The fight over the land dates back to the early 2010s, as the city publicly sparred with Canterra, the developer of Pineview and Kingswood. In 2012, the city announced it had abandoned its hope for a school site in Kingswood. Canterra had said it would only hand over the remaining municipal reserve land unless the city guaranteed the land would not be used to build a high school.
The Gazette reached out to Canterra Developments Inc. for comment, but did not receive a response by press time.
In February 2020, the city acquired 2.3 hectares of land from Canterra and avoided a costly expropriation. At the time, St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron called the acquisition bittersweet, as it was significantly less than the 7.25 hectares of land the city was after.
Joly said after over a decade of waiting for the land to become available, she felt it was time to start the process.
"There's this fantastic undeveloped area in the middle of St. Albert and at a time where we're seeing a lot of interest and growth in the city and in housing it would be great to get the city parts of those lands ready to go," Joly said.
Heron said one reason past councils didn't move forward with expropriation is the cost. The estimated cost for the Kingswood Park and school site was $27 million, according to a report released in 2012.
City spokesperson Cory Sinclair said in an email the city is not prepared to provide the current figure publicly.
"Sharing our expected cost of expropriation has the potential to prejudice the city's negotiating position during the expropriation process," Sinclair said.
Heron hopes it won't come to a position where the city is making a costly acquisition.
"I'm just hoping this process will force him to do what he did with Kingsmeade Park site and just turn it over to us anyway," she said.
Although much of the Kingswood development has finished, Heron said there are still benefits to putting a school on the site, as it is currently designated.
"You don't build a school in a neighbourhood based on the current residents," she said, while acknowledging that the best-case scenario is something like Chérot, getting an elementary school in a brand new neighbourhood.
"At the same time, schools and neighbourhoods are built for 100 years, not 25," Heron said. "So in 25 years, when houses are selling and new families are moving in with younger kids, now that we've built Kingsmeade Park, that area is pretty attractive to younger families. And so I think schools should belong in every neighbourhood, no matter where they are in their evolution."
Joly said one of the lessons St. Albert has learned is school sites need to be prepared well in advance of when they are needed.
"We've got three amazing school boards in St. Albert, four really if you count Sturgeon, and when they are awarded a school we want to have choices available for them to move quickly," she said. "We're in a growing city, we know that there's demand for schools."
With the timing of the motion likely to be debated upon council's return in September, Heron could potentially see the beginning of the end of this process before she steps down from the mayor's chair. She said she wished it could have been done sooner.
The expropriation process could take years, and will certainly be a subject for the next council. Although she's introducing the motion, Joly will watch the final vote as a private citizen.
"Council is a body that continues whether I'm making the motion or not," she said. "This is certainly something that's going to impact future St. Albert residents and I believe it's something that should be on the next council's radar."
