The new DARP has been called visionary, but it is easy to have grandiose visions without regard for costs. What I would like to know is how much the plan will cost and what will be the taxpayers’ share of the cost burden.
Although city manager Bill Holtby said the plan is a land use document, DARP includes no less than 17 specific priority capital projects including changes to existing streets, addition of various new civic and community buildings, construction of parking structures and the addition of parks and open spaces. The report recommends that some of these projects be initiated ‘in the short term.’
To me the plan looks like a lot more than just a land use document and I am dismayed that the plan does not include any cost estimates or any implementation timelines showing how the plan might be staged. It is hard to believe that our council would approve such a massive and costly initiative without even feasibility level cost estimates.
The plan is the first step in initiating a large, taxpayer funded downtown redevelopment project. From my perspective, passing the DARP bylaw legitimizes the plan, making it easier for council and administration to justify future spending decisions related to implementing various elements of the plan.
It is also disturbing that council is fast-tracking DARP without input from the broad St. Albert community.
In addition to significantly changing the character of St. Albert, the plan will have major implications on future property taxes. Shouldn’t all taxpayers have a say on whether this project should proceed? One would have thought that with the recent controversy surrounding the Arlington development, the city would have taken steps to engage St. Albert residents in exhaustive dialogue about the project. But that didn’t happen.
Given the enormity of the DARP project and its cost implications, St. Albert taxpayers should be given the opportunity to express their views on the project. The way to do that is to put DARP to a plebiscite vote during the upcoming municipal election.
A. Keller, St. Albert
