Residents will get a chance to voice any concerns over the annexation agreement between St. Albert and Sturgeon County this month.
Although the two municipalities agreed to sign the final agreement last fall, an objection to the City of St. Albert was filed with the Municipal Government Board (MGB) on Jan. 21. A public hearing has been set for April 22 at 10 a.m., and notification letters were sent to affected landowners and residents on March 22.
Chastity Anderson, communications advisor with Alberta municipal affairs, said the objection was withdrawn on March 31. However, since the MGB had already sent the notification letters and timeline requirements for the public hearing, the proceedings will go ahead.
The annexation agreement, if approved by the provincial government, would transfer some 1,500 hectares of land to St. Albert from Sturgeon County.
The copy of the formal objection was signed by Van Vuong of the Northern Lights Estates subdivision in Sturgeon County. In the notice, Vuong said the subdivision, located near the Pro North Industrial Park off Township Rd. 544, was originally included within St. Albert's proposed annexation boundary. However, plans have since changed so the subdivision would still be located within the county.
According to an application submitted to Sturgeon County in 2017, the development proposed up to 295 semi-detached homes at 30 units per hectare. "In the future, when Northern Lights is absorbed by the northward expansion of the City of St. Albert, integration should be easy because it will already have the physical characteristics of an urban subdivison," the document reads.
Vuong declined an interview with the Gazette to talk about the objection or why he wanted the subdivision to be included in the annexation process. With the hearing coming up next week, city communications manager Cory Sinclair said the "city is not in a position to comment further on this topic."
The annexation agreement itself offers information on why the boundaries were changed where the subdivision is located. According to the document, the Northern Lights subdivision is outside of conceptual boundaries within the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Growth Plan (EMRGP) and the development's area structure plan (ASP) allows for densities "that are not in alignment with the EMRGP or the range of residential densities and built forms expected of urban municipalities."
In 2016, the EMRGP laid out mandatory and voluntary density targets to reduce urban sprawl. St. Albert is required to put at least 40 units onto each net residential hectare in new neighbourhoods.
But keeping the lands within Sturgeon County allows for the county to grow its residential space, and the subdivision is currently serviced through infrastructure owned by the county anyway.
"Annexation of the subdivision would necessitate intermunicipal servicing agreements between the City and the County, and potentially require the City to compensate the County for previous infrastructure investments in this area."
