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Smart growth on death watch

Sustainability. Connectivity. Walkability. Densification. All the sprawl-reducing buzzwords are there, yet St. Albert's yearlong flirtation with smart growth, as it's been proposed, appears headed for an untimely demise.

Sustainability. Connectivity. Walkability. Densification. All the sprawl-reducing buzzwords are there, yet St. Albert's yearlong flirtation with smart growth, as it's been proposed, appears headed for an untimely demise. So what went wrong?

According to Coun. Roger Lemieux, one of the most outspoken critics of smart growth, some aspects of the plan have merit. Overall it would vastly alter the character of St. Albert, and not for the better.

"St. Albert was developed and planned by our forefathers. It's a pretty nice city and all of a sudden we want to change it mid-stream and be the first in North America to do that?"

"Be assured that this guy is not voting for any smart growth," he said.

Lemieux's position isn't unique on council, which next Monday will decide one way or another the fate of smart growth. Two plans have been prepared that call for higher density development, mixed land uses, flexible zoning and grid-like streets in the annexed lands. Council balked at the first, which at 72.9 residential units per net hectare represents a four-fold increase in density compared to current development. A 'hybrid' version soon followed, essentially 'smart growth lite' at 54.8 units per hectare. Even that is getting rough treatment from councillors.

Mayor Nolan Crouse has problems with many elements of the plan, from the grid street design to back alleys that would be required in certain areas (too expensive to maintain and have the potential for crime) and mixed-use commercial and on-street parking along Villeneuve Road. Crouse just doesn't believe there's enough demand for that kind of commercial, an argument developers made while citing high vacancy rates at similar projects like Terwillegar Towne in Edmonton.

Lemieux believes the mixed-use concept is a recipe for strip malls that are going "to go broke."

Scrap smart growth

Council has 16 motions to debate Monday (and more on the way), including one by Coun. Gareth Jones to delete all references to smart growth in favour of a "St. Albert model for future growth."

Jones says "so-called smart growth" originated in the United States as a way to rejuvenate decaying inner city cores in places where the infrastructure already exists. Smart growth often involves government subsidies, he says.

"In all the research I've done I haven't found smart growth in a large area like what has been proposed."

One of Jones' beefs with the smart growth review is a prevalence of what he calls overly optimistic forecasts from city planners. The modified grid for roads is a particular sore spot, where Jones disputes the argument that people will suddenly park their cars in favour of walking.

"There are lots of myths around us that have not been substantiated," he said.

Crouse said one of the challenges of the review has been the amount of disparity between advice from city staff and what developers, workshops and public surveys are telling council.

"The smart growth recommendations have been slanted toward full approval. Council has not endorsed full approval yet."

St. Albert not sustainable

Lorie Garritty and Len Bracko have introduced the only motions supportive of smart growth. Bracko wants to double the amount of high-density transit oriented hubs, one of the many smart growth concepts the city has to adopt for the good of taxpayers, he said. Sprawl costs too much, from extra roads, services and fuel that's consumed.

"What we're doing now is not sustainable," Bracko said. "It's going to cost the taxpayers increasingly more and more money and with the aging population, that's not going to be affordable."

Bracko rejects the idea that smart growth will vastly change St. Albert's appearance. Low-density single-family homes would still consume 65 per cent of residential areas, he said, only a slight change from current targets.

Garritty agrees St. Albert is headed on an unsustainable course. He wants council to approve the hybrid version, minus the proposal to create an industrial park near Carrot Creek, which at 300 hectares (700 acres) might be too large, he says, though he defends the concept which he notes wouldn't result in smoke stacks towering over the creek.

Garritty says smart growth presents a long-term vision for the annexed lands, which in the west at least might not develop for some time. Now is the time to sort out the type of development needed 40 years from now.

"It's not about us. It's really about the future St. Albert."

With the Capital Region Board's new density targets, council realizes some degree of densification is required, Jones said, just not at the scale proposed. Infill development is one possible avenue that hasn't been explored in smart growth, he notes, while the transit hub might be another viable option.

With the amount of motions designed to curtail parts or all of smart growth, Garritty realizes only 'cherry picked' pieces might see the light of day. "It may be a hybrid of a hybrid," he says.

Whatever it's called, let's hope it's a smart enough solution to end what has been a lengthy, complicated and often confusing debate.

Bryan Alary is an editor at the Gazette. Read his Civic Matters blog at www.stalbertgazette.com.

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