Attention: Mr. C. Shear, interim chair, Capital Region Board
I am writing to you on behalf of the St. Albert Taxpayers Association, to voice our concerns about the City of St. Albert Downtown Area Redevelopment Plan, recently submitted for review by the Capital Region Board as part of the regional evaluation framework.
Following is a list of our concerns:
1. The Downtown Area Redevelopment Plan presented to St. Albert taxpayers did not contain any cost estimates. Based on the scope of the plan, one can only infer the total price tag for the project could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
2. The plan did not include a marketing analysis of St. Albert’s potential market for high-density residential development. We believe the proposed net residential density, projected at 238 net residential units per hectare, is grossly overstated.
3. The plan did not include a retail market analysis to confirm that the plan would support the projected growth in commercial development.
4. Stakeholder consultations were primarily confined to targeted groups which, promoting self-interest, support the plan. There is no evidence to indicate that the broader cross-section of St. Albert’s residential and non-residential taxpayers support the plan.
5. The public hearing process chaired by Mayor Nolan Crouse started on July 5, will continue on Aug. 16. In our opinion, since the mayor and other council members support the plan, the hearing lacks objectivity. The mayor has stated that he expects the bylaw authorizing the plan to be passed on Aug. 16.
6. To date, calls to hold a referendum on the issue during the Oct. 18 municipal election have gone unanswered.
In summary, our association believes that the St. Albert city council has not done the necessary due diligence on the details of the plan and it has failed to engage St. Albert taxpayers in meaningful discussions to determine the level of support for the plan. If passed, the bylaw will be the first step in what could ultimately be a very large and expensive publicly funded city project.
Under the circumstances, we ask the Capital Region Board to reject St. Albert’s application to implement the Downtown Area Redevelopment Plan.
The St. Albert Taxpayers Association is a registered non-profit organization formed in 2008. The organization is dedicated to influencing the policies and spending decisions of St. Albert’s city council and administration to ensure reduced waste, sustainable spending and more accountable municipal government. You can find more information about the association on its website at www.stalberttaxpayers.org
Lynda Flannery, president, St. Albert Taxpayers Association
