Residents near the Grandin mall redevelopment say the developer has no regard for the neighbourhood and want the city to stop granting Amacon more rights.
About 20 people gathered at city council Monday to object to an amendment to a land use bylaw that would allow Amacon five storeys on two proposed condominium buildings instead of the initial four storeys.
Six of the residents spoke to council directly. They protested everything from traffic congestion and noise, to the overall development time, and possible damages to their homes from vibrations caused by construction. All of the residents live in a 200-metre radius around the site.
“Why should you say no to this amendment?” said resident Rod Loesch. “Because your legacy, should you allow this to go forward, will be a city so constipated it will take a world-class enema to flush it out.”
The two buildings Amacon wants to build are located towards the back of the site, in the southwest corner of the development.
The bylaw says the developer can build up to 14 metres, or four storeys. But the downtown area redevelopment plan (DARP), adopted by council in 2010, allows for buildings up to five storeys tall, or 18 metres, on the site.
Amacon now asks the city to amend the bylaw to be consistent with DARP. They also ask for an additional two metres to accommodate a necessary firewall in the building. This would require an amendment to DARP.
“The additional two metres would provide more flexibility in the design of the building,” said city planner Karen Oxley. “This would allow for taller ceilings and greater design flexibility on each floor, or for the ground floor to have a taller ceiling.”
Amacon is moving forward with the first phase of development, said Mark Reid, a partner with Urban Strategies. The developer hopes to start construction of the buildings, Block B and C, this year. In reality, they would only build up to 18.29 metres, though, said Reid.
Reid said the buildings would accommodate 49 and 93 units, with underground parking garages. He told Mayor Nolan Crouse that Amacon is putting no restrictions on who can live there. Asked by Coun. Sheena Hughes about shadows, he said “largely there will be no impact.”
“Most of the shadowing will be on Amacon’s property,” he said.
Hughes criticized that Amacon had previously told residents that they would offer a variety of homes on the site but now there were only condominium buildings.
She also said that council was giving Amacon too much freedom. The developer had planned for a four-storey building and had given no good reason for needing five storeys other than what’s written in DARP. But DARP is a guide and council must not always conform to it, she said.
“We are just bending over every time this developer asks us for something,” she said.
During his presentation, Reid also turned to the residents in the audience and apologized for the noise during the demolition of Grandin mall. Development of the new buildings would create “nowhere near the noise that occurred.” His apology was met by quiet protest and scoffs.
Asked how Amacon deals with residents’ concerns, development manager Simon Taylor said they would talk to him. There will also be construction managers and a sign with Amacon’s contact information on site once they start to build, he said.
He stressed that it’s “highly unlikely any damage will be done to the nearby area.” The residents did not agree.
Loesch said the city should contact all of the residents in surrounding neighbourhoods. The 10-year development will affect everyone, not just those in a 200-metre radius around the site, he said. He also said the number of amendments the city has made to the site are frustrating.
“Time and again we receive notices from the city indicating requests for amendments to the development,” he said. “This latest one is not the last. Of that I am certain.”
Darlene Clarke said she witnessed St. Albert’s growth and supports the city’s development. But she objects to the proposed building heights. The more residents move into the space, the less privacy others have in the neighbourhood. There will be traffic congestion and increased demand for community services, such as hospitals and churches. She also fears an increase in mental health issues.
“Human life is not comfortable in small places,” she said, referring to the density.
Two other residents complained that the destruction of the mall may have caused damage to their buildings.
Barbara Ferguson said she now has a cracked roof, a cracked foundation and she saw her window crack. She wants the city to postpone any decision-making until she hears back on a Freedom of Information Request she made on a noise and vibration report. She also said that Simon Taylor did not respond to the four emails she sent him.
Julie Robinson said the houses backing onto the site were already damaged when the original mall was build. She worries this will happen again. Already, during the demolition “you could not stand in my kitchen without feeling that you are riding a freight train,” she said.
Another woman said she had to use fans all over her house to filter out noise so her baby could sleep. And the business owner of Makin-Trax, a dog daycare next to the site, wondered if the construction will close access to her business. Council learned that this issue is now before the courts, as a part of the building the business is in encroaches on Amacon’s land.
In response to the residents’ concerns, Taylor promised to make the noise and vibration study available to Ferguson the next day. Asked if Amacon would work with homeowners if demolition of the mall in fact damaged their buildings, he said that was not his area of expertise and he was not “authorized to make a comment.”
“It’s unfortunate that a few people are upset with me,” he said. “We will have a presence on site to address issues.”
Coun. Cathy Heron said that there was no opposition to building five storeys tall when Amacon first presented its plans to the public. The existing office tower on site was also higher than five storeys, she said. While she was concerned about the complaints, the decision before council “is really around building height.”
Other councillors were also concerned about the response from residents and encouraged Amacon to meet with them. Hughes said she wanted to see a report on the project’s density and a shadow study. She also stressed that the developer did not need to build five storeys tall since they originally proposed four-storey buildings.
“It’s never a minor amendment when it affects people’s lives,” she said.
Council postponed a final decision on the amendment to reflect on what they heard from the community, and to look into the shadow study and density information.
