I would like to provide clarity regarding the City of St. Albert’s planning and development process for projects such as the proposed Riverbank Landing project by Boudreau Communities Ltd. in Oakmont. This project has generated much interest among residents in St. Albert.
The City has a well-defined process to guide any proposed development in our community. For additional details regarding the process, please visit the City’s website and search for the “Planning Primer.” This document provides detailed information regarding community planning, the policy framework, trends and public participation. The Riverbank Landing proposal is in the early stages of the planning and development process, and there are still opportunities for public participation.
• The developer is required to host a public meeting prior to application. The City requires this meeting prior to acceptance of an application to allow the public to provide input on the application, and the developer the opportunity to revise their application based on this input, if they choose. For the Riverbank Landing proposal, the developer’s public meeting took place on Sept. 10, 2019.
• After the City has received a completed application, the City sends a notice to nearby residents of the development, advising the residents of the application, and their ability to provide written comments to the City. For example, for this type of development, notices were sent to residents living up to 100 m from the proposed development. The City sent letters to residents on Dec. 12, 2019.
• The City now posts applications for significant developments on the City website at https://access.stalbert.ca/dev/planning/initiatives. This practice provides residents and interested parties the opportunity to review the proposal. The City posted the Riverbank Landing proposal online on Jan. 7, and extended the deadline for public comment to the City to Jan. 22. These comments will be used by administration for their review of the proposal and provided to the developer for consideration. When reviewing the proposal, administration considers a variety of factors such as (but not limited to) housing diversity, transportation/infrastructure impacts, sun shadow, construction noise and vibration, integration of the development with the existing community, etc.
• When a proposal changes after the initial public meeting, administration may request an additional public information meeting. Due to changes to the application made by the applicant since the September public meeting, administration requested a second public information meeting. The meeting is scheduled for Jan. 29 at the Red Barn (230 Bellerose Rd). Residents who are planning to attend the meeting and who will be using GPS to assist them should enter the address as 105 Bellerose Drive.
• Applications such as this one require a public hearing, and council approval upon three readings of the proposed amendments. The public hearing date is advertised in the Citylights section of the St. Albert Gazette and on the City website. Members of the community are encouraged to share their thoughts with council at the public hearing, either in person or in writing. If they prefer to write to city council, they should send their written comments to the legislative officer, City of St. Albert, 5 St. Anne Street, St. Albert, Alberta T8N 3Z9 or email [email protected] after a hearing date has been set. The council public hearing has tentatively been set for June 8. Information about council and committee meetings can be found at: https://access.stalbert.ca/cosa/meetings/council-schedule or https://access.stalbert.ca/cosa/news/citylights. If you are interested in providing comments to or addressing council, visit: https://access.stalbert.ca/cosa/meetings/addressing-council.
• After the public hearing is closed, council debates the matter, then makes a decision on the proposal.
• If council approves the proposed amendments, only then will the Riverbank Landing development proceed.
• If council refuses to hear the proposed amendments, or the proposed amendments are not approved, the developer must wait six months before reapplying to the City to develop that site.
Yours sincerely,
Kevin Scoble, chief administrative officer, City of St. Albert
