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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.
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5 x, M; _/ Q$ _+ pBy 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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- O- h! ^. _; Y3 i+ eIt 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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Strathearn resident Allan Tchida has fought the high-rise project for three years.
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Residents have fought the project for more than three years, complaining the development will forever change the single-family community.9 I! |7 p+ p& g9 p w
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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. " V0 A8 C8 b" K% P2 n
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7 @7 y* C% i) H1 f: K4 O4 C( u, e"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.- O+ @2 u# \* h& L
~+ M0 {3 ~" p6 T4 l% SJohn Logan, with the neighbouring Bonnie Doon Community League, was also dismayed by the city council vote.
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% z' F: }, x( P% w+ \' CThe developer's vision of the Strathearn project.
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+ Z: o2 U2 _6 Q7 Y: `1 k e& W7 e"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.
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New life to area: developer# G4 {6 _/ n7 R7 B3 |7 n
The 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.
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% j$ {2 U( Q9 T1 B2 S"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.4 Q4 N- ~. J% Q" v
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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.
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g9 A( w9 Z3 U1 a0 P8 `& q iConstruction 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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7 N% L8 f. T, `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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+ B8 q7 M) d( ]& i. D* 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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