Edmonton residents fight proposed apartment complex overlooking Riverdale
Story by Natasha Riebe • CBC
A group of Edmonton residents is trying to stop a six-storey apartment building from being built in the Quarters on a hill overlooking the river valley.
The proposed 25-unit complex was approved by the city in June. It's slated to be built at 9321 101A Avenue, next to a row of Artspace Housing Co-operative townhouses and across the street from the Artspace co-op apartment complex.
The narrow lot is at the top of a steep hill above Rowland Road called the Riverdale Lookout.
Lorna Thomas lives down the hill from the site in the Riverdale neighbourhood. Her brother, Ken Thomas, has cerebral palsy and lives in the Artspace co-op apartments.
Thomas has several concerns about the proposed development, including construction noise, the stability of the hill and vehicle and pedestrian access to the Artspace being blocked.
"A really noisy environment is very detrimental to one's health and when it goes on for weeks and months. It would be really difficult for anybody," she said.
"In this case, I think it would be particularly disruptive because some of the folks who live in these accessible apartments are struggling with difficult health issues, so they're already vulnerable."
Thomas was one of several residents who spoke in opposition to the development at a subdivision and development appeal board hearing on Aug. 3.
Ken Thomas, Lorna Thomas and Kate Wallace gather outside the Artspace Housing Co-operative in the Quarters neighbourhood east of downtown Edmonton.
Kate Wallace lives on the fifth floor of the Artspace complex and also presented concerns to the SDAB hearing. She's also concerned about the months of noise during construction.
She noted that some people in the building have disabilities and she's afraid machinery used during construction would block the narrow road, especially for emergency vehicles.
"We absolutely cannot lose the access, around the building access … for the emergency services, which are called on a very frequent basis."
The permit, issued by a city development authority in mid-June, gives the lot a variance under the city bylaw as the site area is 413 square metres instead of the standard 600.
Wallace said she's not concerned about the building possibly blocking views of the river valley.
Lot challenges
The SDAB lists the applicant as SPAN Architecture.
Songlin Pan with SPAN, the Edmonton-based firm in charge of the project, would not identify the developer.
He said the lot poses challenges so they hired Stantec to do a geotechnical assessment, which determined the builders would need to drill concrete pilings into the ground to create a stable foundation for the building.
The major development permit attached to the SDAB hearing also lists a geotechnical assessment report by Stantec Consulting from April 28, 2023, and a pile wall design plan prepared by PT Engineering.
Developers want to build on the lot next to and across from the Artspace Housing
Pan said this kind of complex typically takes eight to 12 months to build but he's advising they give it an extra two months.
"The lot is a bit more complicated so I'm thinking maybe we need more time to resolve some surprises, something that we didn't expect."
Consultants have provided detailed design, Pan said, but construction can sometimes reveal unforeseen issues.
The subdivision and development appeal board has 15 days from the hearing to rule whether to allow or reject the project.
A decision is expected on Aug. 18.
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