EDMONTON – The Mayor of Leduc County says the community won’t give up its land without a fight. John Whaley made the comments Wednesday, after Edmonton city council released plans to extend Edmonton’s southern boundary.
In a news release Wednesday, Leduc County explained it enjoys good relationships with its neighbours but doesn’t feel an obligation to hand over what it describes as County investments and future tax base to another municipality.
“These lands are attractive to our neighbours because of the forward planning undertaken by Leduc County to ensure our sustainability,” said Whaley in a news release.
“Annexation notices bring a sense of frustration when a neighbouring municipality wants us to forfeit our tax base for their benefit,” Whaley added.
The release went on to say the County has its own vision for growth.
“It would damage the county quite badly if everything was taken away from us,” Whaley told Global News.
“We’re under pressure in this capital region, it’s a fast growing area, we understand that. But does that mean we have to take all the land and squander it away for stuff that maybe isn’t needed and wanted at this time,” Whaley added.
“That is some of the best farmland in Alberta…it cannot be squandered away.”
Whaley said he was surprised by the scope of the annexation proposal.
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“The scale, the size of it was, caught me by surprise I would suggest.”
“I do not expect Edmonton to achieve everything that they expect,” he shared.
When it comes to the next step in the annexation process, he offered this:
“It will be hard-nosed. There’s no doubt about it. We have a lot to lose here and we’re not going to give it without a fight.”
When asked if he would still describe the County’s relationship with Edmonton as friendly, Whaley replied, “oh yes.”
In the news release, the County says it has a history of collaborating with neighbouring municipalities for their mutual benefit when population growth requires new plans. The County says it will continue this “spirit of collaboration” as Leduc County looks at Edmonton’s annexation proposal.
At Tuesday’s announcement, Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel reinforced that history of collaboration.
“We’ve had a year of discussions with the County of Leduc. We need to understand their challenges, their problems. We need to make sure we’re thoughtful in the process. The mayor has been good to deal with, but his job is to make sure there is a good deal for the County of Leduc and we respect that,” said Mandel.
However, Whaley said the process is still in its early stages.
“Our staff have been working together on a letter of intent…The politicians haven’t even met on this issue so … We haven’t been negotiating, that word is wrong,” he clarified.
Leduc’s mayor acknowledged that annexation can be a challenge for people implicated by the possible boundary changes. In the release, the County says residents and businesses will be part of evaluating the proposal.
The County says any proposed annexation will be measured against Leduc’s established and future plans for residential, industrial, commercial and agricultural development.
The Town of Beaumont is also trying to manage its growth while dealing with Edmonton’s annexation plans.
“The Town of Beaumont is planning to grow, the Town of Beaumont will continue to grow. We just need now to identify, reassess what we’ve heard and which direction the Town of Beaumont will be growing,” said Camille Berube, Beaumont’s Mayor.
“Whether there are frustrations… Yes. But in the region, every community is expected to grow… That’s part of the process.”
“It’s not a done deal yet,” he added. “The landowners, the municipality, every possible affected party is, has an opportunity to dialogue in this, and we will as well.”
Tuesday, the City of Edmonton revealed council had voted on and passed the next step in this annexation plan.
Edmonton hopes to annex about 12,000 hectares of land on the southwest side of Highway 2 and about 36,000 hectares on the southeast side. Most of the land is green space, with the exception of the International Airport.
Annexations are common among municipalities. Calgary has had 16 annexations since 1982. Edmonton has had zero.
“We haven’t had any because we’ve had enough land to grow,” explained Mandel Tuesday. “We’ve grown so exponentially we need to do this.”
ANNEXATION PROCESS
So, what is the process of annexation?
The steps are laid out in the Municipal Government Act.
“Our annexation process is a quasi-judicial process where they make an application, they’ll go before the body,” explained Minister of Municipal Affairs, Doug Griffiths. “It’s like a hearing process. So, they will all give their perspective and point of view and discuss the impacts. We have a very good process set up for that.”
“That’s why we have the Municipal Government Board, so that they can discuss annexations and make sure that we find the balance between urban and rural development and the taxation authority,” he added.
Mandel says it will take some time to get all the details ironed out.
“It’s a government process, I could be a hundred years old,” Mandel joked.
“My guess is a year, a year plus. It can go quicker if there’s a way of moving it quicker. But, a year or so, you have to work with the County of Leduc, which we much look forward to, they’re a good group of people, land owners throughout the area, we have to listen and hear from them.”
According to the Municipal Government Act, the annexation process includes the initiation of annexation, direct negotiations, report on negotiations, disposition of report, general agreement on proposed annexation, notice of hearing and costs, board’s report which may be followed by an annexation order pending agreement by the Alberta Utilities Commission.
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