Ardrossan expansion
Published September 5, 2008
At the 19 August Public Hearings, a motion to expand the Ardrossan hamlet boundary passed two readings in spite of the objections of a majority of the local residents present. This major change to the configuration of the neighbourhood attracted very little debate. It was, as the cliche goes pretty much of a "slam-dunk", a decision made without much thought as to how this would be good for Strathcona County. I have always been troubled by the cavalier way we sometimes make planning decisions in this municipality without thinking through the inevitable consequences. To those who say that this is "only" a boundary change, a few lines on a map, I would point out that change of this kind leads to certain expectations. Every time Council says yes to anything, saying no later becomes just a little bit more difficult until eventually no is impossible.
So now we are on our way to approving a greatly expanded residential development in Ardrossan. What will this mean to Strathcona? Growth is expensive. Residential developments require millions of dollars worth of new, hard infrastructure such as roads, walkways, water lines and sewerage systems. In theory, developers are required to fund these. In practice, the municipality must assume financial responsibility for infrastructure in the hopes of recovering these costs as development proceeds. This is of course completely at the risk of the municipality. If the development does not go ahead the municipality is left holding the bag, a potential burden for taxpayers. Then there are the so-called "soft" costs such as schools, recreation facilities, policing, emergency services and on-going maintenance of the new infrastructure. Development makes no contribution to these costs. Conventional wisdom assumes that taxes provided by the new development cover these. In practice, that is only true for high density developments, density that has not so far been contemplated in Strathcona. Like most other residential developments in Strathcona, this will be a net burden on the taxpayer.
So, if we accept the fact that this is going to cost serious money, what then are the advantages? A good place to ask this question first might be in Ardrossan where folks seem to be fairly cool to the idea of a potential upheaval of their lifestyle. Few seem willing to trade a rural, equine lifestyle for the dubious benefits of whatever services this development may attract. A new residential development in Ardrossan may be a wonderful idea. If it is, then those supporting it should have no difficulty providing hard evidence as to the social, environmental and financial benefits to be realised by Strathcona County and particularly Ardrossan residents. So far not a trace of such evidence has been forthcoming.
Alan Dunn
Councillor, Ward 6
780-464-8206
dunn@strathcona.ab.ca.
Last updated: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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