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Edmonton city council gave the go ahead Thursday night to a controversial 1,750-unit housing development in the long-established community of Strathearn, overlooking the River Valley.2 h+ X8 f% B1 g/ }" a, X
1 k4 A) q, s4 Q' d1 E& YBy a vote of 12-1, councillors supported the mix of high-rises towers, ranging from 20 to 24 storeys, combined with townhouses and retail space, to be developed on a nine-hectare site.
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" \8 f! z5 A2 ? p: N8 xIt will replace a two-storey complex of low-cost apartments that have been in the south-Edmonton community for 60 years.
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8 a/ O7 _5 Y9 [) V8 j! G W8 AStrathearn resident Allan Tchida has fought the high-rise project for three years. }# P* v+ B$ t2 H1 _
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Residents have fought the project for more than three years, complaining the development will forever change the single-family community.
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"There's many reasons why we lived there for such a long time," said Allan Tchida, who has lived in Strathearn since 1980. 6 p* W. @4 R8 }6 \' }3 C% X" @
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"Those reasons are going to be gone once this project reaches its full potential. We'll have to see whether or not we're going to stay," he said. T- P* s3 T: `' @) t
& K! z4 ]" p* z3 g" tJohn Logan, with the neighbouring Bonnie Doon Community League, was also dismayed by the city council vote.
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The developer's vision of the Strathearn project.3 w2 g) ^8 ]3 W. G! |+ S5 ?1 O
(Nearctic Group)
/ t! D& W) J, l9 u"I am appalled. I think that from the beginning the wishes from the community and of the people most directly affected have been ignored in a way that I've never seen before in the 30 odd years that I've been involved in community affairs," Logan said.! z6 J' s( k& c3 z" Z7 a2 f9 b
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New life to area: developer
! `4 M/ |: c% x DThe developer insists the project will breathe new life into an aging community, turning it into a modern, mixed-use neighbourhood on the edge of the city's downtown./ b$ v1 K! K) Z/ l- M' {! W
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"We feel now we can present the city with a leading-edge design development that integrates within the community, and we can hardly wait to get started," said Guy St. Germaine with the Nearctic Group.% f1 h) a3 s3 r
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Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel was among those who voted in favour of the project. He said the developer's promise to help build 400 units of affordable housing was a major factor for him.
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"We are having a tremendous challenge in meeting the housing needs of people who are moving to this city and if we don't do something about that we will be in trouble," Mandel said.6 s% L( [- {5 c
3 M) y% x5 Y# v$ ~, CConstruction is expected to start in the summer of 2009, with the full project taking about 10 years to complete, the developer said.
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This is the second major project approved for a mature neighbourhood in Edmonton as many months.
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In January, council gave the go-ahead for a high-rise development in the west end community of Glenora, which will see four towers as high as 21 storeys built.
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) `( O8 r) Q4 f# L* s- {It's part of a push by the city to slow urban sprawl by encouraging more development in older areas of the city. |
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