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Riverside residents oppose second school site

“It’s a difficult decision; I believe a school site would probably work there, but it’s one of those things that once an area structure plan has been started, we shouldn’t be changing it,” said Mayor Cathy Heron.
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Riverside residents who purchased their “dream homes” with the understanding they would back onto a large park – not a school – were victorious Monday when St. Albert city council sided with them over proposed neighbourhood changes.

During council’s Monday meeting, councillors decided against adding a second school site to Riverside’s area structure plan (ASP), despite both local school boards vocalizing need for an additional site in the area.

The move came after a public hearing in which upset residents said they had moved into the area specifically because of the large park, which the ASP amendments proposed to change to a school designation.

Development in Riverside began in 2014, and the second 3.8-hectare school site was being proposed at the corner of Riverside Drive and future Rankin Drive. The ASP was brought forward by Select Engineering on behalf of Genstar Development Company.

Mayor Cathy Heron made the motion, contradicting recommendations made by city staff, saying she is a believer that once people start to invest and move into a neighbourhood, any changes to ASPs need to be carefully considered.

“It’s a difficult decision; I believe a school site would probably work there, but it’s one of those things that once an area structure plan has been started, we shouldn’t be changing it,” she said.

Riverside resident Michael Hatter told council he moved his family into a home that backs onto the proposed school site. He never would have moved into the area if he had known the park would become a school, Hatter said.

“We purposefully moved to a neighbourhood backing onto a park site, not a school site.”

Both local school divisions were the only presenters explicitly in favour of a second school site, and St. Albert Public Schools board chair Glenys Edwards said one school site is not sufficient to meet student demand in Riverside.

“St. Albert Public Schools' utilization rate is over 90 per cent, so we have very little student capacity at our other schools to accommodate students from Riverside,” she said.

St. Albert Catholic School Division board chair Joe Becigneul said in three years the division could require access to a school site for a Kindergarten to Grade 9 school.

In total, five people spoke during the public hearing, and a common sentiment was wanting to see more green space in Riverside “tomorrow.” One resident did not care whether a second school site was added, as long as a park came first.

Before council’s vote, Select Engineering said they recognize residents’ concern about a green space shortage in the neighbourhood, and plans are underway to begin constructing a park this summer.

St. Albert’s 2020 budget includes $14.9 million in funding for new neighbourhood parks over 10 years, and Riverside park development is slated for after 2022.

Another proposed change in the ASP, which council did not spend time on during debate, was opening up Mission Avenue again. This would allow for shortcutting between Ray Gibbon Drive and the downtown core.

City transportation manager Dean Schick assured council Mission Avenue would be capable of handling the influx of traffic, referring to the ASP’s traffic impact assessment.

Coun. Ray Watkins was the sole member of council who voted against Heron’s motion, stating council was not dealing with concerns he heard about opening up Mission Avenue again.

Support for Heron’s motion

Aside from Watkins, the rest of council was supportive of Heron’s move to remove the second school site designation from the proposed Riverside ASP.

Noting population variance between the existing ASP and proposed one is only 300 people (from 9,500 to 9,800), Coun. Wes Brodhead said if the school boards only needed one school site when the ASP was approved, “they can only need one now.”

While a lot of the plan “is fantastic,” Coun. Natalie Joly said the school site is one piece she was concerned about.

“I think this would be a good move just to protect the spaces, to signal to the community we’re not going to change ASPs every five seconds because it’s the whim of the day,” she said.

It is a big decision to buy a “forever home” and it is unfair to change the ASP after the fact, Coun. Jacquie Hansen said, who called in for the meeting.

“People are expecting and thinking about their future, and I understand an ASP can be subject to change,” she said. “This is a big change, and I think it’s a little bit too much.”

Both councillors Ken MacKay and Sheena Hughes said they were “on the fence” during debate, with Hughes worrying that removing the school designation will limit the type of park amenities the site will attract in the future.

MacKay said with information from both school boards saying the need exists for more school sites, he has to rely on that.

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