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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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; a4 P* q3 R) k" r# lBy 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.$ S4 j* C, o1 p$ z4 w8 G
' o3 B8 X; N) _It will replace a two-storey complex of low-cost apartments that have been in the south-Edmonton community for 60 years.: ~0 D5 v4 I. w" Y) V5 X
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Strathearn resident Allan Tchida has fought the high-rise project for three years.
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# N$ m' s: O* d" L0 j) t& {Residents have fought the project for more than three years, complaining the development will forever change the single-family community.
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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. " q4 x1 {6 Y+ d) O7 @* L
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& O! g3 h. n( ]* Q"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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; X O, z4 e2 l" n! F: V3 gJohn Logan, with the neighbouring Bonnie Doon Community League, was also dismayed by the city council vote.
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" \5 Q9 b( P3 HThe developer's vision of the Strathearn project.
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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.' R" Q- i, y$ k4 O0 p
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New life to area: developer7 {* }! Q2 n# _" r, `
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.; i9 y O8 y- O+ q1 ~) |
" c' d/ k0 k6 h% k1 W7 U6 y) s( ~7 o"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.* b, D0 w- T3 v( F E, E
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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.( u* K7 w4 r- s% S. W! s, A+ D: m5 r
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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.8 ~5 w% k, }% [( P
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Construction 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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6 J# ~1 O) Z! T4 @0 c' @! uIn 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.7 ~, d0 e# W5 a1 h
$ O* K/ v/ {, H/ zIt'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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