Can some urban sprawl be of benefit? A city study will likely say yes
By COLLIN GALLANT on February 22, 2020.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant If you ever want to see a hand grenade go thump on the floor, there’s a good example in the video replay of this week’s council meeting. Luckily, it only led to a few awkward glances before bouncing out the door. But it will be back in the April-May time frame when the contents of a new report on relative cost benefits of urban or suburban development is made public. The pin was pulled, so to speak, this week in the middle of a debate about new housing developments that weren’t envisioned when the fire service developed its new coverage plan eight years ago. Coun. Kris Samraj cited his standard concern that urban sprawl (our word not his) strains budgets, and a $100,000 grant to install fire sprinklers in new homes on the edges of fire response zones was another example. At this point, Mayor Ted Clugston interjected to say the latest review by planners states newer, higher-end construction typical to traditional suburbs is a net positive for the city when tax revenue is set against cost of providing service. Well, that’s new, and it was gamely certified by top administrators who later said a report presented to council in closed session is “highly contextual” but does show a net positive in some situations to expanding new communities on outer edges. It’s all a bit coded, but the gist pertains to whether development pays for itself, or whether expanding new communities requires more tax dollars than they contribute. The idea has been that “brownfield redevelopment”, i.e. building along existing roads and utility systems, and were services like busing and in place, adds tax revenue without adding costs. The new info will like come back to light when the city reworks its long-term Municipal Development Plan in March or April. It’s likely the case that the study finds new communities that do not require major new roads, or take advantage of pipes and sewers that are already laid, won’t add costs and are a net benefit. That likely jives with the initial high-level working thesis of the MDP that density should be a priority while suburban development in some cases may be beneficial. In the non-academic analysis, this also might placate the general development community that obviously wants larger margin greenfield subdivisions to come online. Cold ones Don’t count your chickens, but it looks like we might survive winter, it being almost March and all. On cue, the annual “Coldest Night of the Year” fundraiser to address homelessness will be held overnight Saturday, though it almost certainly won’t be the actual coldest. There’s only one month before the WHL regular season ends. Also, there’s only six more months before the current management contract for the Canalta Centre expires or needs to be reviewed. Could it be five years already? A look ahead Alberta’s legislature reconvenes on Monday for a winter sitting that will include the budget being tabled this week. The city, Town of Redcliff and Cypress county will hold a rare three-party public hearing on amendments to the Tri-Area Intermunicipal Development Plan. 100 years ago Medicine Hat MLA Charles Pingle was formally nominated as speaker of the legislature in Edmonton, the News reported this week in 1920. As the legislature reconvened, Premier Charles Stewart told Medicine Hat Irrigation scheme boosters that study and an assurance of water supply in the Ross and Seven Persons creeks before funds would be dedicated to the plan. About 35 landowners along each creek sought help in building reservoirs on the system. Roland Michener, of Lacombe, had been awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for Alberta. The son the Canadian senator had studied at the University of Alberta prior and following service in the air force. He planned to obtain a law degree at Oxford. British Prime Minister Lloyd George suggested that he favoured opening peace talks with the Soviet government in Russia. The New York Tribune backed Canada over the Untied States in a diplomatic row caused when Washington petitioned London to deny British Dominions from holding voting rights in the League of Nations. “The friendship of no one is more needed by the United States than that of our neighbour,” read an editorial. “It would be a crime against the future to provide any basis for complaint.” Collin Gallant covers city politics and a variety of topics for the News. Reach him at 403-528-5664 or via email at cgallant@medicinehatnews.com 27-26
