A program for first-time homebuyers in Edmonton that has been controversial in the past is being reviewed by the city.
The First Place Program develops townhouses on green spaces that had previously been declared surplus by school boards. Residents have previously expressed concern about the loss of sports fields.
READ MORE: Frustrations mount over townhouse project in Edmonton’s Twin Brooks neighbourhood
Now, according to a Negotiated Request for Proposal released by the city, the administration is looking for a consultant to review the program and make recommendations about whether to continue, cancel or re-structure the program for the remaining sites.
However, Tim McCargar, director for Civic Properties in the city’s Real Estate Branch, said cancelling the program isn’t an option at this point.
“There are about four or five sites that are yet to be built on. The program review might inform things to improve on the site, might point out things we should be celebrating that council asked us to do,” he said.
“They could also be used to inform our decisions about what to do with future vacant building sites.”
The program, which started in 2006 and was last reviewed in 2011, can make homeownership more attainable for Edmontonians because the city defers land costs for five years. So far, the city has designed 816 houses, conducted design engagements in 15 communities and helped 545 families enter the housing market as of this past summer, according to McCargar.
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Though there have been frustrations in the past, including at an open house in Twin Brooks in Dec. 2016, McCargar said resistance from existing neighbourhood residents in the past did not play a factor in the new review.
“Those two are independent. This was part of our due diligence in our periodic review of programs,” he said.
“With every site we design, we evaluate the process and we learn things which we apply to other programs. We’ve made some modifications to how we construct to reduce trucking traffic through the neighbourhoods to reduce risks and enhance safety.”
The review will focus on 11 sites across the city that are either complete or near-completion, including Bearspaw and Twin Brooks.
It will involve discussions with the developers, current and past owners, neighbours to the First Place Program complex as well as design participants.
Program helpful for first-time homebuyers
Homeowner Riley Steed lives at a First Place Program complex in Bearspaw. The 25-year-old said the program gave him more options when he was shopping around for a house.
“We could have bought a house but it would have been an older one in a different area probably not as close to the LRT, in not as nice of a community,” he said.
“This definitely helped us get a nice place we were happy with.”
Though he said there were a few maintenance issues with the site, Steed said, overall, the program has been very positive, despite some initial tensions.
“Some of the neighbours that have been here a long time didn’t really want a big, new housing complex in this field that’s over here,” he said, pointing to the green space in front of his townhouse.
“We came in a little bit later. I think by then things had calmed down. We have good neighbours around here and made some friends. We use the fields. There’s a playground nearby we go to all the time. I haven’t noticed anyone not like us or be cold towards us because of this house, because we live here or anything like that.”
Controversy in the past
Residents in Twin Brooks have, in the past, said they were not happy about the lack of consultation from the city, with some saying the community was losing spaces for events and programs.
But Mike Lanteigne, president of the Twin Brooks Community League, said the neighbourhood wants to be inclusive to First Place participants. He has advice for the city when dealing with communities in the future.
“We’d like to see consultation with the community well in advance of construction. We believe there was a lot of opposition not to the First Place program itself but to its location initially,” he said.
In Twin Brooks, the plot of land set aside for the program is roughly 0.8 hectares within a nine-hectare plot of land that had been used as green space by the community. Lanteigne expressed some concerns about how the shrunken green space will affect soccer programs in the future but was overall supportive about First Place.
“Now that it is part of our community, we want to make sure we’re welcoming,” he said.
The final report by the consultant is expected to be done by Jan. 2019 with a presentation expected before council in Feb. 2019.
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