St. Albert councillors say they look forward to having a new infill strategy in place to help safeguard the city's character during a period of rapid growth.
According to city records, about 15 per cent of all new housing units built in St. Albert each year for the past few years have been infill housing units — new housing built in older neighbourhoods on previously undeveloped land, or on land where an older home previously stood.
Infill housing is touted by advocates for reusing existing infrastructure such as water and sewer pipes; creating varied housing types like basement suites, duplexes, and fourplexes; and because it can help increase density. An example of increased density would be a plot with one single-detached home being split into two separate lots with two separate homes.
For many members of council, an upcoming city infill strategy will be key in addressing their concerns about infill development in St. Albert; namely, the potential for infill to change the look or aesthetics of the community, especially at the rate of development the city has been tracking.
“I don't really have a strong like for something to come into a community and just totally look entirely different than the other parts or the other buildings,” said Coun. Ken MacKay.
“I think that takes away the character of the neighbourhood.”
As part of the city's 2022 budget council approved the use of $208,100 to develop an infill strategy. However, acting director of planning and development Kristina Peter said in an email work on the strategy won't get underway until at least next year, and could take up to three years to finish.
READ MORE: St. Albert puts cash toward infill strategy
Peter said the strategy will work in conjunction with the city's Municipal Development Plan (MDP), Flourish, which is the city's overarching planning document.
“As a high-level strategic plan, Flourish sets the stage for infill, redevelopment and intensification in the city,” Peter said. “Flourish also provides direction for smaller-scale redevelopment in existing neighbourhoods.”
“A supporting, comprehensive redevelopment strategy will provide further detailed planning policies and direction that will guide future major and minor redevelopment projects. This includes aspects such as building heights, type of built form, land uses, connectivity, urban design, and open space.”
MacKay said he thinks St. Albert's oldest neighbourhoods, such as Braeside, Mission, Sturgeon, and Grandin, which have already had some infill development over the past decade, will likely see more and more infill development as the years go on, which is why he'd like to have the new strategy in place as soon as possible.
“You're going to see our neighbourhoods start to turn over, and I believe it's very important, therefore, that the city develops a very comprehensive strategy to address that,” MacKay said. “You see some of the conflict that occurs in other municipalities, particularly like Edmonton, where they have infill and you get a lot of complaints because it takes away the feel of the neighbourhood or it takes away the ... nature of what the neighbourhood was.”
“I believe strongly that we have to look at infill without really having a dramatic impact on the character of the neighbourhood in our city.”
The city currently has a set of infill design guidelines to address the concern over appearances, although they were developed and approved back in 2006.
The guidelines cover everything from lot size and layout requirements to what kind of facade (exterior) materials can be used on an infill property and what shape the roof can be.
Coun. Wes Brodhead shared MacKay's concern, but said the answer isn't to disallow infill development in the community, as it's beneficial for reducing urban sprawl.
“As we grow, there's always going to be a requirement for the living space, but we need to make good use of the living space we've got,” Brodhead said. “But we need to be very intentional about how we do that, so that the character and the feel and the sense of St. Albert is sustained.”
“That is going to be the challenge and we need to make sure that our architectural designs and our land-use bylaws are sufficient to allow infill in a way that meets the needs of our community.”
The city's statistic of about 15 per cent of all new housing units built each year being infill units came as a surprise to Coun. Shelley Biermanski, who said she didn't think it was that common.
“I don't know what they classify as infill, because we don't exactly have that clarification without our strategy, but I wouldn't think it would be 15 per cent in residential neighbourhoods,” she said.
Besides a clearer definition of what constitutes infill development, Biermanski also said she'd like the upcoming infill strategy to touch on commercial infill development and renovations, and include sufficient public engagement.
“[I] want a plan that works and makes people content in their neighbourhood and appreciative of what comes to their neighbourhood,” she said.
