Who we are

We are a group of concerned citizens who want to protect ALL rural lands and the rural lifestyle of Sturgeon County. We are very concerned about the current Sturgeon Core and Sturgeon Valley plans, which we believe, in their current state will destroy the very rural life that exists within them: farm life, wildlife habitat, rural residential. We have researched and believe the following to be true. We do welcome feedback and comments if we have misinterpreted information set out by the county.

EMRB:

• Edmonton Metropolitan Regional Board is a growth management board created by the province of Alberta
  
• Sturgeon County is mandated to to be a part of the EMRB
  
• One EMRB mandate is to dictate housing density

Sturgeon Valley Core:

• Received special permission to develop at the lowest density category (between 0 and 20 units per hectare)
  
• There are NO other low density developments permitted going forward
  
• The Core region will have up to 6961 more people compared to 4300 people today
  
• The Core will also have some small businesses
  

Sturgeon Valley:

• Current allowable densities of a minimum density of 35 units per hectare and up to 125 units per hectare
  

Future Sturgeon County Core & Valley Map:

• -  Densities will increase as you approach St. Albert and Edmonton
• -  The region south, when fully developed, will have approximately 61, 200 people
• It will include light industrial and a potential transit hub

Commercial Development:

• The Sturgeon Valley South will have many commercial and mixed-use development, thus turning this part of Sturgeon County into a city

Roads:

• Future 127 Street is set to be built beside River’s Gate and run through even more valuable land
• 127 Street is located next to Riverlot 56, which is a protected area
• We are concerned this road will destroy even more land and animal habitat for species that include deer, moose, coyote, snowshoe hare, muskrat, beaver, etc.
  

Accountability:
Council voted and approved the valley region on September 14, 2021

Lack of Community Consultation:
According to Sturgeon County’s Public Engagement Policy:
“External Public Engagement - a formal, defined, interactive process between Sturgeon County, the public and stakeholders, designed to increase mutual understanding, gather information, exchange ideas, and/ or solve problems with the goal of making better, more informed decisions.” (Reference Material 2: page 1)

Sturgeon County’s Increasing Level of Public Impact involves “to work directly with the public throughout the process to ensure that public concerns and aspirations are consistently understood and considered.” (Reference Material 2: page 3)
According to Sturgeon County’s Public Engagement Policy, their engagement tools include:
“face to face meetings” and “public meetings”. (Reference Material 2: Page 3)

According to Sturgeon County:
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, public consultation for the Sturgeon Valley South Project (s) was completed virtually, including 4 public information sessions via Zoom, 2 Developer information sessions via Zoom, and an online developer survey via Zoom. (Reference Material 1: Page 6)

• All of these consultations, sessions, and surveys were taken place online during the pandemic when residents struggled to protect their families. How can council think people had the time, the energy or mental capacity to tune into zoom meetings when their priorities were with their families? No major large scale county decisions, such as the urbanization of Sturgeon County should have ever been made during the pandemic
• Many families do not and did not have fast reliable internet access to attend virtual meetings. Sturgeon County Council has, in the past, acknowledged that many residents do not have fast, reliable internet service in Sturgeon County
• We have a large population of people who are elderly and less likely to engage in online activities
• There are also some residents who do not have computers or access to computers
• Conversations with many residents reveal that they did not know about the Sturgeon Valley South Projects, never mind the Sturgeon Core projects
• Information directly affecting residents should ALWAYS be sent in the mail
• Councillor Karen Shaw cast the only opposing vote to the Core plan. She was not convinced residents had adequate say given the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Reference Material 3). She is absolutely correct. Residents did NOT have adequate say.
• Councillors Neal Comeau, Patrick Tighe, and Karen Shaw abstained from the Sturgeon Valley South plans vote as they were not present at the hearing. (Reference Material 3). This means that 3 Sturgeon County areas were not properly represented.
  

Reference Material:
Reference Material 1: Sturgeon County Area Structure Plan Sturgeon Valley Core
https://www.sturgeoncounty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Area-Structure-Plan- Sturgeon-Valley-Core-Bylaw-1557-21.pdf

Reference Material 2: Sturgeon County Public Engagement Policy
https://www.sturgeoncounty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Policy-Public-Engagement.pdf

Reference Material 3: St. Albert Gazette Publication September 20, 2021
https://www.stalbertgazette.com/local-news/sturgeon-valley-area-structure-plans-approved- shaw-toms-4332803

Reference Material 4: Sturgeon County Structure Plan Sturgeon Valley South
https://www.sturgeoncounty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Area-Structure-Plan- Sturgeon-Valley-South.pdf