TAMRMS#: B06
13.2
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MDP Amendment for Growth Areas
Notice given by: Councillor Hughes
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PROPOSED MOTION(S):
recommendation
That the MDP is amended by April 1, 2025 to define "Priority Areas", "Areas for Growth" and "Future Areas for Growth" to provide clarity that the MDP will permit growth in the newly annexed land, including recognizing the catchment areas applicable to the northeast servicing project charter as “Areas for Growth” instead of “Future Areas for Growth”.
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ADMINISTRATION’S UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTENT OF THE MOTION
By approving this motion, Administration will:
• Clearly define and articulate the difference between Priority Areas for Outward Growth, Priority Areas for Intensification, Areas for Growth, and Future Areas for Growth, and
• Undertake a review of the Municipal Development Plan and the corresponding underpinning growth plan to enable growth and development within both the "Areas for Growth" and "Future Areas for Growth" policy areas.
PURPOSE OF REPORT
The purpose of this report is to present a motion for which Councillor Hughes gave
notice on November 5, 2024.
ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL DIRECTION OR MANDATORY STATUTORY PROVISION
N/A
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
During the November 5, 2024, Public Hearing for Bylaw 16/2024 - Northeast St. Albert Area Structure Plan (ASP), Administration provided Council with rationale as to why the proposed ASP did not align with the City’s Municipal Development Plan (MDP). As the lands within the Areas for Growth and Future Areas for Growth were not prioritized for growth, they were not expected to be developed over the lifespan of Flourish (the MDP).
Flourish (the MDP) identified the Areas Prioritized for Outward Growth and Areas Prioritized for Intensification as within the expected scope of growth and development (100,000 population and 13,000 new jobs) over 25 to 30 years. As the MDP and the associated growth plan were approved prior to annexation, the plan focused on accommodating growth within pre-annexation boundaries. Wording regarding growth in the 2021 Flourish document was purposely drafted to support efforts regarding the concurrent annexation project. However, at the November 5, 2024, Council meeting it was revealed that further clarity regarding the intent of Areas Prioritized for Growth, Areas for Growth, and Future Areas for Growth was desired by members of Council.
Administration has demonstrated that St. Albert is in an advantageous position to accommodate future greenfield development in areas with existing infrastructure servicing. This motion aims to enable growth within the newly annexed land, which currently lacks infrastructure servicing. This would extend the planning horizon, enabling a total population of approximately 170,000 people. This would result in outward growth being dispersed across the west and northeast concurrently, with the potential for civic investment in the west not being fully optimized. Competing with development in northeast St. Albert within and beyond the former city boundary, could result in slower repayment of debt and offsite levies in both areas.
IMPACTS OF MOTION
Moving forward with this motion would require two separate actions.
First Action: Amending the MDP to define Areas Prioritized for Growth, Areas for Growth, and Future Areas for Growth. This can be done by St. Albert planning staff, with no additional budget, and brought back to Council for first reading consideration by April 1, 2025. This amendment would not involve public participation. Ideally, to maximize staffing resources, this amendment could be addressed through the 5-year MDP update (scheduled for 2026). While this timing would push back the approval date, it would still ensure that the intent of the motion is addressed.
Second Action: Enabling growth and development within both the “Areas for Growth” and “Future Areas for Growth” policy areas is more complex, and cannot be achieved by April 1, 2025.
As the MDP policies are underpinned by the growth strategy, a re-evaluation of the growth strategy of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Growth Plan (EMRGP) is necessary. This would involve assessing all lands within the City (including the newly annexed lands.
Importantly, in light of the recent speculation and high likelihood that the Government of Alberta will no longer fund the EMRB and that participation will become voluntary, the way ahead as it pertains to EMRB coordination, alignment and oversight of municipal statutory plans is unknown. It is possible that this announcement will fundamentally impact the EMRBGP. At this time, however, the current legislative regimen remains in effect.
To achieve this second action, the following tasks would be required:
• Developing a project charter
• Hiring staff
• Creating a Request for Proposal to hire a consultant
• Developing a Growth Strategy
• Undertaking a high-level servicing review
• Reviewing and developing policies to support the new direction
• Engaging in public participation activities (involving the land development industry, landowners, and the public)
• Circulating to impacted parties (municipal neighbours, government agencies, and regulatory agencies like CN and Fortis)
• Conducting legal reviews and updating documents and websites.
As this is a major amendment to the MDP, additional budget and staffing are required to achieve this. To maintain the standard level of service across the Planning and Development enterprise, while implementing an amendment of this size, two additional planning staff members are required. Additionally, a budget to hire a planning consultant is necessary.
In total, it is expected that this project will take a minimum of 2 years to complete (inclusive of hiring timelines, procurement processes, and planning approval timelines). The budget to cover the costs of this amendment, including additional staff, consultant fees, and public engagement, would be approximately $450,000.
Financial:
First Action: While not incurring financial costs Planning staff will be reassigned to bring forward the definition amendments. This will likely result in some form of delay to other corporate priority projects (like the initiation of the Infill Strategy) based on the reprioritization of effort. There could be an impact on land developer amendment application timelines (Area Structure Plan and Land Use Bylaw amendments).
Second Action: To enable growth and development in all areas of the city, there will be resources required to enable this work. The project charter for a major MDP amendment is estimated to cost approximately $450,000 and take 2 years to complete.
Compliance & Legal:
First Action: No concern.
Second Action: Given the significant amount of land affected by this amendment, aligning the new policies with certain sections of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Growth Plan (EMRGP) will be complex. However, the way ahead specific to the EMRB and associated Provincial legislative framework (i.e. Intermunicipal Development Plans and Intermunicipal Collaboration Frameworks) is to be determined subject to Provincial legislative changes, and would need to be monitored as this work unfolds.
Please note, the $450,000.00 budget does not include additional funds to amend the proposed St. Albert Northeast Area Structure Plan, which would enable further development within the fully serviced area (on the western side of St. Albert Trail).
Program or Service:
First Action: This action may have a minor impact, such as delaying the implementation of the Infill Strategy or extending the timelines of land developer amendment applications would be required. To minimize impact, this update could coincide with the 5-year MDP review.
Second Action: To achieve the second action, the Planning Branch will urgently require funding and staffing capacity to undertake a systemic and foundational amendment to the MDP. The timeline for such an amendment is anticipated to be approximately 24 months, encompassing project charter development, hiring, statutory plan creation, and statutory adoption.
Before hiring additional staff and a planning consultant, developing a Project Charter in Q1 2025 will impact progress on other priority projects, such as the Infill Strategy and potential Housing Accelerator Funding projects.
Organizational:
First Action: The first action will have no significant impact on the organization.
Second Action: The second action will involve support from other City departments and consultants specializing in planning, engineering, finance, and related areas, as well as significant community engagement. This project will implicate staff from across multiple City departments, as resources will be needed to evaluate future planning applications in Northeast St. Albert (e.g., Neighborhood Plans, redistricting, subdivision) and their associated implications for City infrastructure and services.
Risks
First Action: The first step in this process will not pose a significant risk. To maximize the efficiency of internal staffing resources, this work could incorporate this action into the 5-year MDP update scheduled for 2026.
Second Action: The second action will necessitate a significant shift in the MDP growth prioritization for the City of St. Albert. Potential impacts include:
• Lack of alignment with the EMRGP, subject to anticipated Provincial legislative and regulatory changes regarding Growth Management Boards in 2025.
• Limiting infill redevelopment opportunities in favour of greenfield land development.
• Reducing the priority and capacity to invest in mature neighbourhoods (particularly those over 30 years old).
• Declining commercial investment along St. Albert Trail in existing areas due to greenfield development.
• Longer repayment periods for infrastructure investments in both the St. Albert West ASP and the NEASP (and a resulting increase in debt payments).
• An increase in residential assessment split and associated municipal servicing costs, as a larger portion of residential lands is brought online.
Additionally, there are risks associated with potential impacts on staffing resources and budgetary implications, as detailed above.
ALIGNMENT TO PRIORITIES IN COUNCIL’S STRATEGIC PLAN
Item aligned to Strategic Plan: Economic Prosperity and Financial Sustainability. This work will likely necessitate a reprioritization of effort over time.
ALIGNMENT TO LEVELS OF SERVICE DELIVERY
N/A
ALTERNATIVES
If Council does not wish to support the proposed motion, Administration presents the following alternative for Council’s consideration.
Alternative 1: That Administration develop a Project Charter, evaluate the organizational impact for this strategic direction, and include a budget request for Council’s consideration by April 1, 2025, so that the MDP will permit growth in the newly annexed land, including recognizing the catchment areas applicable to the northeast servicing project charter as “Areas for Growth” instead of “Future Areas for Growth”.
Financial:
See above for details regarding “Second Action”.
Compliance & Legal:
See above for details regarding “Second Action”.
Program or Service:
See above for details regarding “Second Action”.
Organizational:
See above for details regarding “Second Action”. While not incurring financial costs, this motion will impact priorities as Planning staff will be reassigned to respond to the motion. This will be achieved by either delaying corporate priority projects (like the initiation of the Infill Strategy) or extending the timelines of land developer amendment applications without regulatory timelines (Area Structure Plan and Land Use Bylaw amendments).
Risks
See above for details regarding “Second Action”.
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Report Date: December 3, 2024
Author: Kristina Peter
Department: Planning and Development
Department Director: Kristina Peter
Managing Director: Adryan Slaght
Chief Administrative Officer: Bill Fletcher