Face-off over air quality

St. Albert's proposed new air quality monitoring station went on trial Wednesday, with its critics saying they're fine with the station itself … but not if it's in their park.

About 15 residents came to city council chambers Wednesday night for a subdivision and development appeal board hearing on the proposed air quality monitoring station in Larose Park (145 Larose Dr.). The station, if built, would provide real-time updates on air quality in St. Albert, but could potentially occupy a 15-by-15-metre chunk of the park.

The proposed station is a three-by-six-metre building that resembles a utility trailer surrounded by a chain-link fence. If built, it would be next to the Lacombe Park Reservoir.

This station would degrade the park and surrounding property values, said Charlene Berard, the resident appealing the station's development permit. Berard lives across the street from the proposed station.

"I'm here today to speak on behalf of 136 other residents of St. Albert," she told the appeal board, referring to a petition she tabled of residents opposed to the station. "We are not opposed to having an air quality monitoring station in St. Albert. We are, however, strongly opposed to have it situated at 145 Larose Drive."

Berard said that this station had been improperly classified as a "public utility" by city staff, and argued that it should have been listed as a "research and development business" or a "research laboratory." While the former is allowed in parks under the land-use bylaw, the latter two are not.

"An air quality monitoring station is for research and scientific testing," Berard said, and the city had stretched the land-use bylaw "to the limit" to accommodate one here.

"We bought a house in a residential area, not in a trailer park," she continued, yet their home will now look out upon a "decorated trailer" instead of a park. "Would any of you want this trailer directly in front of your home?"

Resident Gary Comber, who lives opposite the proposed station, said the neighbourhood already had enough public buildings in it. "Kids play in that area," he said. "Why take up and consume parkland for another utility building?" He also claimed that the notice of the station was misleading, as it said the station was a "new recreational development."

That's because there was no entry code for "air monitoring station" in the city's planning database, said Kathleen Short, the development officer who approved the station's permit – "new recreational" was the closest one.

The notice does say, in capital letters, that the permit is for a "PUBLIC UTILITY BUILDING" and "AIR QUALITY MONITORING STATION," she noted. "There was no intent by the development department or the city to mislead the public in any way."

Station vital, say supporters

Air quality is one of the top issues residents want the city to address as part of its environmental master plan, said Leah Kongsrude, the city's manager of community sustainability. St. Albert is the only city of 50,000 in Alberta without an air monitoring station.

"You can't just put it in any location," she said of the station – Alberta Environment requires stations to be a certain distance from major roads, valleys, tree stands and utilities. Just two sites in St. Albert met all the criteria – Larose and Fountain Park – and Larose had the more accurate monitoring results during testing.

The station itself would provide health information important to seniors and kids, Kongsrude said, teach students about air quality, and support the regional air-quality monitoring network.

The station's footprint could be as small as four by seven metres, Kongsrude said, and could be screened from view by trees. It could also be moved a bit to accommodate park users.

"I don't think it's going to interfere with use of the park," she said. "It's going to be smaller than the (nearby ice rink) change-room building."

St. Albert is currently a "black box" when it comes to air quality because it doesn't have a monitoring station, said Frank Vagi, a city resident with decades of experience in environmental monitoring. That makes it tough to evaluate environmental impacts of new developments on the city. "The data's absolutely necessary to allow that," he said.

The Strathcona Industrial Association has had air quality monitoring stations in service since the 1970s, he noted, and many of them are located in parks and residential areas.

David Spink, an air quality consultant and frequent user of Larose Park, said it was incorrect to classify this station as a research lab. "This is not a research monitoring station. This is a bread-and-butter monitoring station." The station was a public utility as it provided a public good, he argued.

City residents are becoming more concerned about air quality, said Larose Drive resident Basil Delaney, and this station will provide the data needed to track it. It would also warn runners like him about health risks such as forest fires.

He questioned the legitimacy of Berard's petition, arguing that the people circulating it (who had asked him to sign it) used misleading language and described the station as an "eyesore" and a "metal box." "Is this the reason why people signed it?"

The city would have to find another place for the station (like Fountain Park) if this permit was rejected, Kongsrude said, but Alberta Environment could reject those alternatives. "Potentially, if (the permit is) denied, we wouldn't get a station."

The board will issue its ruling on the station in 15 days.