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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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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" M5 N( E, v; G2 PIt 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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/ q1 y$ T. F8 G ]* C* zStrathearn resident Allan Tchida has fought the high-rise project for three years.
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1 |6 Z8 H3 |3 Y- P, L% }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.
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( h1 x9 \% h* \+ }5 l: v$ V% D% m"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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9 n! X2 a9 U: ?, E) d; Z' kJohn 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.
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! v6 \3 i' I! [# L& {"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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- y7 u3 N+ x) qNew life to area: developer
2 o1 c3 w2 f( Z, MThe 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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"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.
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5 ?* l7 i' q, vEdmonton 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.$ ~# g/ e% s& L) U) Y
& [ H( `3 G: M# x; l* a7 k/ y"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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Construction is expected to start in the summer of 2009, with the full project taking about 10 years to complete, the developer said.4 \6 J2 X( x/ w& v- @; s1 x
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This is the second major project approved for a mature neighbourhood in Edmonton as many months.
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In 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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It'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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