As someone who has had a concern about the conversion of farmland to urban sprawl for several decades, particularly on the development fringes and area surrounding St. Albert, I couldn't help but think how hypocritical our Mayor Nolan Crouse sounded in the Gazette article of Sept. 17, expressing his concern about loss of farmland to development.
I was quite surprised he didn't sprain something from talking out of both sides of his mouth. It seems he says one thing as chairman of the Capital Region Board and does another as St. Albert mayor.
I would urge residents to take a drive down Villeneuve Road and take a gander at the black soil mining operation on the north side of the road as a result of the city's approval of yet another development. Take a drive down the west bypass, and have a look at the nice berms along the east side of the road that used to be topsoil from the North Ridge Development. Wave bye-bye to the beautiful crops and farmland on the west side of the bypass and north of the Sturgeon River that are already showing signs of future development from the survey sticks. Even more high-quality farmland was removed with the massive development around the new Costco.
Sturgeon County Mayor Tom Flynn doesn't get a free pass on this either. Anyone travelling down Sturgeon Road these days toward the golf course can enjoy another “executive home” development between Riverlot 56 and the golf course. It used to be a crop of wheat or canola. Bet you dollars to donuts the developers are already salivating about the patch of farmland across the road to the south, currently planted in crop.
What's sad is that the area surrounding St. Albert represents some of the highest-quality farmland in Alberta. It is not uncommon to find several feet of black topsoil on local fields.
So when bread goes up to $10 a loaf and you wonder where all the beautiful farmland around St. Albert has gone, you'll be sorry that you didn't speak up. It'll be too late by then, because once that farmland is gone, it is gone forever.
But does our mayor and city council care? Don't make me laugh. Their attitude would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic as it relates to this important issue.
Tony Kryzanowski, St. Albert
