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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.3 W' L5 k* t4 j
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By 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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( j+ v5 V' x1 S1 |4 U0 ]It 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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3 [/ o& r) C3 y o8 \! YStrathearn 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.5 S4 P h D+ C( b2 t
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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.
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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.
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3 `5 a3 u/ E: f) V* SJohn 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. v4 Y! ?/ O E% u$ C' }& }5 D
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"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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$ Y9 @+ z* Y6 ANew life to area: developer
, B7 y2 ^4 L) `9 C7 C$ KThe 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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& b* a& t, j: x5 M" V+ |"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., U# I# K7 P# O
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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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" z+ S; ^* _2 q0 o \5 lConstruction 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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& _+ e0 S& ^. Y7 |' f9 T- M6 q+ TIn 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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( ? `( R2 r \- b# Y! ]. UIt'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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