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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.- p/ K2 o1 K; N0 d5 a6 k
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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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5 I3 y6 [- ~9 q1 GIt 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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Strathearn resident Allan Tchida has fought the high-rise project for three years.
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Residents have fought the project for more than three years, complaining the development will forever change the single-family community. z$ e, A! p2 q3 A: q- J ^
) X8 Y# a% ^7 h( W! k2 g* Z"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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"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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+ j9 V. J2 c6 |1 |. i: z7 jJohn Logan, with the neighbouring Bonnie Doon Community League, was also dismayed by the city council vote.% r" a/ O5 u" l0 I
$ e- A. @' F, {% \6 g8 ^1 v! YThe developer's vision of the Strathearn project.
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"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./ }8 L! d' q9 V3 u5 E5 b% |' }3 Z* q
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The 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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. z2 G& @1 Z9 }" T) j4 @"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.) F/ h. f' j% W' y7 r" J
2 w4 M3 e0 p& t/ G+ ^; TEdmonton 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.
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"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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! S4 N3 W& A3 f5 Q1 IConstruction is expected to start in the summer of 2009, with the full project taking about 10 years to complete, the developer said.+ g7 i6 J/ ]* \" \
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This is the second major project approved for a mature neighbourhood in Edmonton as many months.
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0 L/ ^8 `# c4 e" W$ n6 pIn 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.% ?! n& `- L$ ~3 Z
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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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