Plans to expropriate land for LRT line proceeding

City councillors voted to begin expropriation proceedings Wednesday against nine landowners on the Valley Line LRT west extension.

The nine landowners will have 120 to 180 days to continue negotiating compensation after Edmonton files official notice of expropriation to settle.

They have the right to have their legal fees paid by the city, and to appeal to a provincial Land Compensation Board.

Some properties have been purchased; others are in areas where the line is still being designed.

“We try to negotiate on all these properties but ... we don’t have the time luxury to continue negotiation,” said Edmonton’s head of infrastructure, Adam Laughlin.

The lands include dozens of businesses, including two block faces on Stony Plain Road.

The move was endorsed by council’s executive committee Wednesday and goes to council next week.

Property owner George Kosowan told the committee city officials have been evasive during public consultations, refusing to reveal what and how much property was needed while concept plans were being finalized.

He owns land near the south Valley Line LRT extension to Mill Woods and is worried it might be expropriated for a line down Whyte Avenue.

“I’m sincerely sick and tired and frustrated,” he said.

Council endorsed the west LRT concept design in March. Funding has been promised. If all goes well, the line will open in 2024.

Postmedia compiled a list of affected properties earlier this year using a set of maps posted online in 2009 when the concept plan was passed, but city officials were unwilling to confirm if the list was accurate. The list released this week includes one additional property, a house at 175 Street and 87 Avenue.

Coun. Scott McKeen said several of his constituents were surprised by the expropriation, likely because their landowner was notified and didn’t say anything.

“For people whose residence or livelihood are tied up in this, it’s a tremendous shock to their lives,” McKeen said. “But I don’t know how you build an LRT line through an existing city without causing some of those issues.”