Strathearn residents propose compromise to highrise plan
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 | 1:07 PM MT
CBC News
Residents in Edmonton's Strathearn neighbourhood have come up with a counter-proposal in their bid to stop a developer from building a series of highrise apartments and condominiums on land overlooking the city's River Valley.
The plan was developed by community leaders and presented to about 100 local residents who met Monday night in a church basement.
Strathearn community leaders unveiled their counter-proposal Monday night to a highrise development project planned for their neighbourhood.
(CBC)
It calls for a series of terraced buildings no taller than six storeys, with a total of about 1,000 units. The developers are proposing to build 1,750 units with some towers reaching as high as 23 storeys on the nine-hectare parcel of land along 95th Avenue in south central Edmonton.
City council will hold a public hearing on the proposal Jan. 28.
"This is an eminently acceptable and beautifully rendered alternative to a development that is an unmitigated disaster," said John Logan, president of the Bonnie Don Community League, which represents people living just south of Strathearn.
Forty other communities who object to highrise developments in older neighbourhoods are also backing the neighbourhood's plan, said Strathearn Community League vice-president Allan Tchida.
Longtime Strathearn resident Doris Lynch said she hopes city council will see the community proposal as a workable compromise. "We were told our area was going to be highrises within 10 years, and I've been here 50, and the highrises aren't here yet. They shouldn't be."
'This is an eminently acceptable and beautifully rendered alternative to a development that is an unmitigated disaster.' —John Logan, community league president
Community leaders appear to have an uphill battle on their hands. The highrise project has already received the blessing of city planners and has earned an award of merit from the Edmonton Urban Design Committee for its blend of infill and intensification.
