Residents fight density at strip mall hearing
But that issue ‘not actually before us,’ Nenshi notes
The lack of a redevelopment master plan for the Stadium Shopping Centre has created a long list of concerns for nearby residents, who worry redevelopment will change the fabric of their community.
The proposed area redevelopment plan (ARP) for the strip mall near Foothills Hospital lays out a vision for the site, which would include offices, apartments, retail and restaurant space, medical offices and possibly a 240-room hotel. At this point in the process, there are no concrete plans laid out for the site.
That’s for a reason: City council has to approve the ARP before the developer can start creating a detailed picture of what will be built.
Still, residents are concerned about what they say is a redevelopment that will be too big for the community.
The site’s land-use designation, which dates back to 1970, allows for 46 metres of height, or 14 storeys. But just because the land-use already allows for such development doesn’t mean it should be done, says University Heights community association president Peter Khu.
“The actual density that would go onto a piece of property that would be allowed is ultimately a question of what’s appropriate, what’s manageable and what’s compatible with the existing community,” he said.
More than 30 residents came to present their concerns to council both about the public consultation process that’s been undertaken so far, as well as what the redevelopment could look like.
After a 10-hour hearing, council hit the pause button before making a final decision next Monday. The mayor and aldermen asked planners and city lawyers to consider some tweaks to the plan, and consider the legality of some larger changes the community requested.
Since there are no detailed plans yet for the site, the developer says it’s too early to say what will be built. And some residents might be confused about the redevelop- ment process, said Mike Brescia of Western Securities.
“I think there are a lot of people here that have been given the misconception that this is a (master) plan, that there’s a 14-storey hotel going on the corner of the site, that this is Market Mall. It’s just not true.”
Brescia says the point of the public hearing and the consultation process is to find out what residents like and don’t like about the ARP.
A number of aldermen put that question to residents.
David Richardson told council he’d like to see 50 per cent of the new space devoted to residential development, with half of that for families. He also laid out a few wishes for building height — no more than four storeys for buildings backing onto the school and nothing higher than two storeys near the church.
But the main concern from many residents was density — something that isn’t on the table because the land-use designation has been in place since 1970.
“A lot of community members have spent a lot of time and a lot of effort on issues that are not actually before us today,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “And that leaves me to believe that the city did not do a good job on actually explaining what the ARP process is about and what we can and cannot decide at city council.”
When Nenshi pressed Western Securities for a clearer picture of how many towers might be built at the maximum height of 14 storeys, they mused that they likely would only have one.
Still, that did little to quell residents’ anxiety.
“There’s even concern about one tower, frankly,” Mark Johnson said.
What the community wants is a land use that “works” for the community — something like a Garrison Woods-style development, says Khu.
“We’re not asking you to lower the land use.”
Brescia said a walkable development like Garrison Woods with lots of shops and open spaces could be possible for the site, but that’s something that won’t be examined in more detail until after the ARP is approved and the developer conducts more public consultation.
“We‘ll get to the point where they’ll get to see those plans,” said Brescia.
“What we’re talking about here, this community should be very excited about. There are tools for them to come to us through detailed design and consultation with them, and two-way engagement that happens beyond this process to talk about what we actually build.”