St. Albert Minute: Issue 133

St. Albert Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of St. Albert politics

📅 This Week In St. Albert: 📅

• Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Common Sense St. Albert. We're grateful to everyone who supports our work, especially our loyal St. Albert Minute readers. We hope you're enjoying a lovely long weekend with family and friends.
  
  
• The Standing Committee of the Whole will meet tomorrow at 9:30 am. On the agenda is Administration's review of the St. Albert Soccer Association's request for $8.3 million from the City towards an $8.6-million facility project. The Association wants to build an indoor training facility and a full-size outdoor artificial turf field next to its existing site on leased land in Riel Recreation Park, with $1.5 million of the City's contribution as a grant and $6.8 million repaid over 30 years at 3% interest. Administration found that the project meets the Association's own needs but not broader municipal recreation needs, and that its cost estimates are only at a concept stage that should carry a contingency of plus or minus 50%, not the 5% the association claims. It also notes that the proposed 3% repayment rate is below what the City itself could borrow at, and that the Association cannot lead a project funded through City borrowing, as its original proposal assumed. The report lays out four funding scenarios, from a grant plus City debt, which Administration rates as high risk and which would reduce the City's future borrowing capacity, to a flat $3-million grant, which the Association now prefers and Administration rates as medium risk. Every option would require a review of priorities in the City's 10-year capital plan.
  
  
• City Council has rejected two proposed changes to the City's land use bylaw that were funded through the federal Housing Accelerator Fund. At the end of a two-day public hearing on Tuesday, October 6th, Council voted 6-1 to remove the Neighbourhood Intensification Strategy, which would have expanded infill in mature neighbourhoods and lowered single detached lot widths to eight meters in 16 neighbourhoods, with Councillor Amanda Patrick casting the only vote to keep it. City planners said the change would have allowed skinny homes on 42% of low-density residential lots, up from 8% under current rules, and warned that the City could risk losing its remaining federal housing funding if the changes were not approved. Council then voted 4-3 to remove the Transit Corridor Intensification Strategy, which would have allowed more housing and mixed-use development within up to 800 meters of planned transit nodes along St. Albert Trail, with Councillors Neil Korotash, Ken MacKay, and Patrick voting to keep it. Numerous residents spoke against the changes, citing parking, traffic, and the effect of densification on St. Albert's character. Mayor Scott Olivieri said his concern was not whether St. Albert needs to grow, but whether the City had done enough analysis of the impact of more density on utilities, emergency services, school sites, and amenities.
  
  
• The St. Albert Public Library will ask the City for $40,000 in the 2027 municipal budget to cover the cost of complying with Bill 28, the province's new legislation on public library materials. In May, the library had raised its planning provision for the impacts to $100,000, but CEO Laura Winton said that figure was an estimate made before the regulations were released. Starting January 1st, 2027, libraries cannot allow anyone 15 or younger to use or borrow materials containing a visual depiction of a sexual act without a parent's or guardian's authorization, and those materials must be kept physically separate from the rest of the collection. Material that is not distinctly sexual in nature, such as content related to medical examinations, puberty, pregnancy, or breastfeeding, is excluded. Winton said the library will likely need to buy and install new shelving and develop new procedures so that only patrons of eligible age or with parental consent can access the materials, but she does not expect major renovations. She added that library staff are making the changes "with a heavy heart" and have raised concerns that the legislation compromises open access and freedom of choice for patrons.
  
  
• The City of St. Albert has started a one-year, $6,000 pilot project that changes when drivers can turn left at the intersection of Gate Avenue and St. Albert Trail. Since October 5th, a digital sign installed at the corner in August shows the usual "no left turn on red" instruction by day but switches overnight to "left turn yield on green", letting drivers turn left on a green light without a green arrow as long as they yield to traffic and pedestrians. The overnight mode runs from 10:00 pm to 5:30 am on weekdays and from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am on weekends. City transportation engineering manager Dean Schick claims St. Albert is the first city in Western Canada to test time-of-day protected left turns. The City says it chose the intersection for its shape, clear sight lines, and lower traffic volumes, which made it less risky than others. The pilot will be judged a success if it cuts average left-turn delays during low-traffic periods by 20% without increasing collision severity or frequency, and if drivers follow the yield-on-green instruction more than 95% of the time. If it succeeds, the sign may be used at other intersections.

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

What do you think of St. Albert’s year-long pilot allowing drivers to turn left on a green light overnight at Gate Avenue and St. Albert Trail, provided they yield to oncoming traffic and pedestrians?

The $6,000 trial aims to reduce left-turn delays during quieter hours, with the City hoping to cut average delays by 20% without increasing collisions. If successful, the approach could be introduced at other intersections.

Let us know what you think by replying to this email!

🪙 This Week’s Sponsor: 🪙

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