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Northern Lights changes outrage former owner

The original developer of the Northern Lights subdivision in Sturgeon County said he is outraged the county is changing plans that took years to get approved.

The original developer of the Northern Lights subdivision in Sturgeon County said he is outraged the county is changing plans that took years to get approved.

Vito Daniele, who originally proposed the Northern Lights development in 2001, said he is stunned the county is changing the plans at the request of the subdivision’s new owner.

Northern Lights is a residential acreage subdivision just north of St. Albert near the Pro-North industrial park.

It was designed as a ‘working-man’s subdivision.’ Half of the lots would be standard acreage homes and the other half would permit both homes and small commercial or industrial shops.

The proposal sparked two separate challenges from neighbouring municipalities against Sturgeon County.

St. Albert objected to the county acting outside of the intermunicipal development plan. Morinville was concerned it would put too much strain on the town’s water supply. It took years to resolve the disputes.

The new owner of the subdivision wants to remove the working-man’s lots entirely, telling county council they are difficult to sell.

Daniele said he believes the working-man’s lots need better marketing, but he still gets phone calls from people interested in the concept.

“There are people who are paying a $1,000 or $1,500 for their shop space and then another $1,000 or more for their mortgage. Why not have it under one roof?”

Daniele said council should keep the existing zoning in place and charges they are simply following their administration’s lead.

“We still have our own council taking direction from administration; administration was not voted in, council was.”

Coun. Ken McGillis, who represents the area, said he understands Daniele’s frustration but they have to look at the request in front of them.

“Certainly the Daniele family had a vision for it and put a lot of work into it, but we are at a stage now where someone has come in and bought it,” he said. “There is a new owner in place and this is what he is saying — in his opinion he needs to sell and market his subdivision.”

The delays — as Sturgeon County, Morinville and St. Albert argued — cost his family too much money to continue on, but he would still like to see his vision completed. “The municipalities damn near bankrupted us. We had to sell, because of all the hidden agendas.”

Daniele said he initially wanted a completely residential subdivision, but St. Albert rejected it. “If this was what they wanted in the first place, why put us through the mud for the last 10 years, the last decade,” he said. “That is what we wanted to do in the first place and they could have saved us $500,000.”

He said given how much it cost him, he can’t imagine what the municipalities spent on the zoning dispute.

Daniele said the changes won’t hurt the subdivision in the long term, but are a blow to the people who wanted to live there.

“This is a place where a working man can go and make a living with affordable prices.”

County councillors gave second reading to the changes removing the working-man’s lots on March 30 and forwarded the proposed changes to the Capital Region Board.

St. Albert and Sturgeon County are currently pursuing changes to the intermunicipal development plan, including exempting Northern Lights, which will also have to pass before the changes can be approved.

McGillis said he can’t say for sure what council will do when the proposal comes back for third reading, but they have given a clear sign of their intentions.

“I have long since learned that you don’t try and prejudge what your colleagues on council are going to do, but I would say there is a sentiment that we are going to approve these changes otherwise we wouldn’t have pursued this course.”

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