Reaction to annexation differs
Despite fears, move has to make sense to most county residents
Just 900 people live on the vast 154-square-kilometre tract of land that Edmonton hopes to annex south of the city, but the concerns of the 900 are crucial.
If the vast majority are opposed to the annexation, that’s a problem for Edmonton’s aspirations.
The good news is that some of the 900 residents of the land, which is now controlled by the County of Leduc, are strongly in favour of annexation. The price of land near the city will almost certainly rocket up if the annexation goes ahead, so property owners who want to cash in will able to do so.
But others — some of them living not so close to Edmonton’s border, which means it will be decades before their land fetches top price for development — fear their taxes will rise and road maintenance decline if the city takes over.
Judi Trellenberg’s family owns two large pieces of county land between Edmonton and Beaumont. Trellenberg says the land is so far south and east, she doubts it will be developed any decade soon. She’s heard stories of farmers within Edmonton’s boundaries having to pay higher taxes for improvements to their land, such as building new farm sheds.
She also says the city doesn’t spray for noxious weeds along its roads, but the county does, and that’s important in farm country, where keeping the thistles out of the crops is crucial. The county also does a better job with grading roads, snow removal and pothole repairs, she says.
Annexation doesn’t sound like a great deal, Trellenberg says. “We want these issues to be addressed before we sign off on it. And don’t get us wrong: we understand that everybody has to grow. We understand that Edmonton is going to grow. We’re not 110 per cent against this. But let’s do this properly. We just don’t want a bad deal.”
Peter Ohm, the city’s annexation project manager, says the city’s mantra is that once annexation occurs, the city will provide the same or a better level of service on roads and weed control.
City workers don’t spray for weeds because council is against heavy chemical use with in Edmonton, Ohm says, but on a much bigger piece of county land the city will look into best practices to control the noxious weeds.
The city will also look at making sure taxes don’t shoot up on farm land, with some grandfathering of the county tax rates.
Of course, some country residents are already firmly on side with the annexation, including farmer Bob Scheele, who has 16 hectares on the border of the city. Unlike Trellenberg, Scheele is no fan of the level of service from the county on road maintenance and weed control. “Their (county) ditch was all full of thistles they didn’t deal with themselves,” Scheele says. “I can’t say their maintenance was anything to write home about.”
Nor is Scheele worried about higher taxes. “It’s just agricultural (land) and I don’t think the taxes will be any different.”
Scheele says he and most other country residents already act like Edmontonians. They go to Edmonton shops, restaurants, libraries and rec centres.
Most of all, though, Scheele is keen to see what will happen with his land’s value after annexation.
Another county resident, retiring real estate lawyer Walter Braul, says annexation will make a huge difference in land prices. Braul knows of two farm properties annexed on the Edmonton side of the border that went for $150,000 an acre and $112,000 an acre, but a property on the county side went for $45,000 an acre. “You can see the dramatic difference in value because one property was in the City of Edmonton and one property was not in the city,” Braul says.
My own take is that the city has to be careful to honour its pledge on services and taxes, but that Braul’s argument will win the day with most county residents. They won’t turn down the chance to sell for top dollar.
The City of Edmonton also has the track record for city building, its got the most expertise and most clout, and is the best bet to develop this land properly. As Braul puts it: “Anyone who is a thinking person realizes there is only one comprehensive municipal planner available to deal with the surrounding property … The County of Leduc doesn’t have the money. They might have the desire, but they have done nothing to make these major overall regional concepts work.”