Edmonton (Alta.) - 1973 - The future of this city or has this city a future?... (1973-10-01)

SD LIBRARY

879

III IIII II

G030/1834/1973/C. 1

A STATEMENT ON THE EDMONTON.-CITY-COUNC

Planning

DO,P41TIMIMI

4

LIBRARY

of%

The City of Ectmonfor

A Statement On The Future Of This City

Approved by City Council October 1, 1973

A Submission To The Minister of Municipal Affairs

375a .E3 .E335 1973

THE FUTURE OF THIS CITY')4902 OR HAS THIS CITY A FUTURE?

A

SUBMISSION To

THE

MINISTER OF MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ALBERTA

BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EDMONTON

OCTOBER 1, 1973

"The subjects on the agenda before us are urban-rural subjects, and, however great the difficulties, we must devise decisionmaking bodies to suit the agenda. For too long, we have been distorting the agenda to fit the existing fragmented machinery, or putting the agenda aside, or referring the items on it to committees of inquiry, ad hoc agencies or advisory planning bodies" - E. Beecroft

"The quality of life for the great majority of (Canada's) citizens will be determined primarily by what happens in her cities, metropolitan and regional urban areas"

- T.J. Plunkett

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUMMARY

ii

JUSTIFICATION

RECOMMENDATIONS

LIST OF MAPS

viii

LIST OF TABLES

ix

CHAPTER I

- HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

1

CHAPTER II - AN OVERVIEW WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT

15

CHAPTER III - ON WHICH TO BASE THE FUTURE

38

CHAPTER IV - THE BOUNDARY ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

48

CHAPTER V

61

- THE SELECTED ALTERNATIVE REVIEWED

CHAPTER VI - RECOMMENDED ACTION

77

CHAPTER VII - PROTECTING THE NEW CITY

83

REFERENCES

89

SUMMARY

It is the contention of this submission that the best form for the future of this city is a single municipality, encompassing the whole urban unit, with a single local government which includes in its organization localized fbcii of citizen interest.

Chapter I traces the historical development of this contention from the McNally Commission to the present.

Chapter II reviews the present situation of the Edmonton area.

The existing and potential effects of increasing fragmentation of local government control are noted. A brief summary of Canadian experiments in urban local government form is provided.

Chapter III develops six principles for the establishment of a local government unit. These principles may be applied in determining any local government boundary and organizational form.

Chapter IV applies these principles to three alternative courses of action with regard to Edmonton's boundaries: no adjustment, minor adjustment, major adjustment. It is concluded that a major adjustment ought to be undertaken by the Province.

Chapter V reviews the selected alternative and makes a variety of recommendations regarding boundary configuration, protection of farmlands, and form and style of government.

11

Chapter VI presents a recommended course of action for the Province.

Chapter VII looks beyond the proposed adjustment to the surrounding area and recommends innovative Provincial action in protecting the City from outside encroachments.

JUSTIFICATION The Alberta Government is in a rather unique position. It need not be bound by nor defensive of past provincial decisions. It is a government which has shown its ability to act decisively in other areas. Now is the time for an urban thrust in its decisionmaking, for directing some of its energy from national to local issues.

There is no doubt that the issue is difficult. The previous government attempted unsuccessfully to act as a mediator. The present government must grasp and act creatively and decisively on it. The Manitoba and British Columbia governments have shown that they can act on urban government matters - unification of Winnipeg and unification of the urban areas surrounding Kamloops. The Alberta Government may do so also.

The incipient confusion and frustration of proliferating authorities in the Edmonton area requires provincial attention.

Examples abound in other jurisdictions of the destructive force

111

of fragmented jurisdiction run wild, which renders local government impotent. The Province can let the urban disease spread in Edmonton through its inaction. Or it can act to halt the disease and cure the causes now.

For effective exercise of its planning responsibility, local government must have authority over the affected area. This is not presently the case, to the detriment of both Edmonton and the surrounding area.

Surrounding municipalities are dependent upon the Edmonton Fire Department for major fire protection. Planning, staffing and equipping of fire services for the dependent area must be under one local government authority to be efficient and effective.

Many surrounding municipalities are dependent on Edmonton for treated water. For its efficient and effective planning and provision, water supply must be under one local government authority.

Environmental protection is a growing concern for the area. For environmentally sound storm and sanitary sewage disposal to be effectively and efficiently provided, one local government must have authority.

Increasing awareness of leisure opportunities results in higher priority for parks and recreation facilities and programs. The whole area will benefit from the effective and efficient provision of these services through a single local government authority.

iv

In a time of emphasis on continuing, life-long education, library services become increasingly important. The sophisticated services and resources of a large scale library system, benefiting the whole area, may be most effectively and efficiently provided by a single local authority.

Urban transportation is a daily concern for the people of the whole area. Planning and provision of public and private transportation facilities may be most effectively and efficiently provided by a local government having authority for the service area.

It is submitted that the residents of the area included in the major adjustment will benefit from improved library, parks and recreation, fire protection and transit services. In the long run, the whole area will benefit from the ability to plan its future and the authority to implement its plans. The proposal provides a voice for these people in the determination of local government affairs which intimately affect such a large portion of their lives.

RECOMMENDATIONS 1. It is recommended that a major adjustment of municipal boundaries in the capitol city area be undertaken by the Provincial Government.

While some minor modifications may be required, it is recommended that the major adjustment follow the concept proposed in this submission.

2. It is recommended that the Municipal Taxation Act be amended to permit rural assessment and taxation provisions for Lands within an urban municipality zoned "Metropolitan Agricultural" (MAg).

3. It is recommended that the City of Edmonton provide for a "Metropolitan Agricultural" (M4g) zoning category to be applied to all bona fide farmlands within its boundaries. It is further recommended that the Regional Plan be amended accordingly.

4. It is recommended that two classes of MAg zoning be established: MAg -1 (in perpetuity) and MAg -2 (transitional).

5. It is recommended that MAg-1 zoning be applied by the City to a "green-belt" area, approximately 1.5 miles wide, within but on the perimeter of the new boundary except adjacent to the "local option area" and south of CFB Namao.

vi 6. It is recommended that the County of Parkland be given the option of the inclusion or exclusion of the "local option area".

Edmonton

covenants not to initiate its inclusion prior to 1981.

7. It is recommended that for a maximum period of ten years, the Town of St. Albert and the Hamlet of Sherwood Park be guaranteed representation on the Council of the new City by two aldermen each, and that the Provincial Government initiate appropriate legislation to enable this.

It is further recommended that a general revision of ward boundaries in the City of Edmonton within that period may be undertaken provided that recognition is given to the representation of these two areas.

8. For convenience of access to the City Administration, it is recommended that branch city halls" be established in the town centres of each of the outline plan areas, St. Albert and Sherwood Park.

9. It is recommended that Area Councils become the vehicle of community and political participation in the new City.

10. It is recommended that provision be made for the assimilation into the Edmonton Fire Department of any full-time firefighters presently serving the new area. Similar arrangements should be made for other municipal employees affected by the boundary adjustments.

vii

11. It is recommended that all citizens affected by this proposal, both within and without the present City, be afforded the opportunity to comment on it.

12. It is recommended that development outside the new boundaries described in this report be directed towards satellite communities and that the Province take the initiative in designating a wide green-belt area outside the new City and prohibiting by legislation anything but an appropriate use.

viii

MAPS

Page MAP I

MAP II

MCNALLY COMMISSION REPORT RECOMMENDED BOUNDARY

4

THE HANSON REPORT AND ANNEXATIONS SINCE 1968

9

MAP III

HISTORY OF ANNEXATIONS

14

MAP IV

WATER LINES LEAVING EDMONTON

22

MAP V

HIGHWAYS ENTERING EDMONTON

24

MAP VI

PROPOSED MAJOR EXPANSION BOUNDARY

63

ix STATISTICAL TABLES

AREA OF CITY OF EDMONTON IN ACREAGE AND SQUARE MILES

13

1972 TRAFFIC FLOW

28 & 29

POPULATION OF ALBERTA: SELECTED YEARS

36

POPULATION DENSITY AT JANUARY 1 IN SELECTED YEARS: EDMONTON

36

ANNUAL POPULATION GROWTH: SELECTED MUNICIPALITIES 1969 TO 1973

37

POPULATION 1967, 1971, 1973: SELECTED MUNICIPALITIES

37

PRIMARY SATELLITE COMMUNITIES - 1969

85

CHAPTER I

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

-2-

HISTORY

In 1891 a 3.37 square mile Town of Edmonton was incorporated on the north side of the North Saskatchewan River. Seven years later the Town of Strathcona was incorporated south of the river. By 1911 both towns had become cities and the whole urban unit was amalgamated as the City of Edmonton containing some 23 square miles. Small annexations occurred almost annually until 1917 when the area had reached 41 square miles.

No further annexations took place until 1947 and by 1954 the area was still only 41.5 square miles. Since 1954 there have been 12 annexations resulting in a present City of 121.39 square miles (See Appendix & Map III).

The McNally Commission

On July 19, 1954, an Order-in-Council was issued to establish a Royal Commission on the Metropolitan Development of Calgary and Edmonton, popularly known as the McNally Commission. The Commission held public hearings, received briefs and researched municipal and metropolitan experience in other provinces and countries. Its final report was dated January 31, 1956.

The Commission set the tone of its findings in its first recommendation: "That in the event that city boundaries are greatly enlarged, subject to the proviso that at least sewer and water are provided, some relaxation of the city building codes, in appropriate zones, is preferable to having new fringe development outside the enlarged city limits. Such a step would be the lesser of two evils."

-3-

The Commission's conclusion was that the metropolitan area would best be served by a single local authority for planning.

The Commission recommended expanded boundaries for the City of Edmonton in Chapter 14, Recommendation 2: "That the city boundaries be extended to include the fringe towns of Jasper Place and Beverly, most of the industrial area of Strathconagunicipal District (now the County of Strathcona No. 20), the townsite of Campbelltown (now Sherwood Park) and the intervening land, together with portion of land all around the present city limits." (See qap I)

The principles which guided the McNally Commission in reaching this conclusion were: (a) When industrial growth has taken place immediately adjoining or in close proximity to the boundaries of the City proper, the best-suited municipal unit to govern and control such growth is the City. (b) That where industry has established itself to a substantial extent immediately adjoining the boundaries of the city and the workers in such industry and their families reside within the city, the taxes from such industry should be collected by the city which is called upon to furnish the educational and numerous municipal services arising from the residence of the workers. (c) That the city is entitled to growing space and to have this space it is necessary that its boundaries should expand into rural municipalities. (d) That where the area immediately adjoining the City has taken on strong urban characteristics, it should be under the aegis of the City Planning Department in preferance to a rural municipal council. (e) That it would constitute nothing short of a metropolitan tragedy to permit a second city to grow up on Edmonton's east boundary completely independent of, and duplicating, the existing city."

This extension of the boundaries of the City of Edmonton would

-4-

*e:t

METROPOLITAN AREA OF EDMONTON, McNALLY COMMISSION REPORT, 1956 Legend City of Edmonton boundary , 1956 McNally Commission Report recommended boundary

The City of Edmonton Planning Deportment July 1973

-5-

have resulted in an area of 112.02 square miles which the Commission viewed as a social and economic unit. The two basic principles indicated in Chapter 12 of the report were: "(a) It is unjust and inequitable that wide variations in the tax base should exist among the local governing bodies that comprise a metropolitan area where that area is in fact one economic and social unit. (b) A metropolitan area which is in fact one economic and social unit can ordinarily be more efficiently and effectively governed by one central municipal authority than by a multiplicity of local governing bodies."

Jasper Place Annexation In August of 1962 the Town of Jasper Place applied to the Local Authorities Board for annexation to the City of Edmonton. The Town based its petition on the submission that "some suburbs prosper at the expense of the centre - more often an are weakened by unequal growth".

It pointed out that suburban residents "are just as insistent

on improvements as the residents of the central city."

With regard to land use planning, the Town submitted that competition for industry was having bad results for "it should not be necessary to try to attract industry to areas best suited for housing merely in order to balance the assessment base of the unit."

The Town submitted that planning

of land use, transportation and utilities could best be undertaken by a comprehensive authority.

The City of Edmonton submitted that such an annexation should only occur as a

"part of a comprehensive adjustment of boundaries to facilitate

sound and effective development of the whole metropolitan area, and to make available a more equitable sharing of industrial tax revenue to assist in

-6-

paying the costs of services to residential areas."

The boundaries

proposed by the City were substantially those recommended by the McNally Commission. They included Jasper Place, an area of the M.D. of Stony Plain, the east Edmonton industrial area in the County of Strathcona and Sherwood Park.

The City argued that most of its available land could most properly be used for residential purposes and that it needed land for industrial purposes. The Board was asked "to note that Edmonton now has too high a ratio of residential assessment to commercial and industrial assessment."

The Board ordered the annexation of Jasper Place, a portion of the M.D. of Stony Plain and a small portion of the County of Strathcona. The major portion of the proposed Strathcona annexation was denied. The Board concluded that "in the present circumstances" it was in the best interests of the whole metropolitan area that the heavy industrial development be left in a rural atmosphere.

The Hanson Report

On August 8, 1967, the Council of the City of Edmonton directed that a study be commenced in regard to extending the City's boundaries in all directions in order to search for the best and most appropriate form and area of local government in the Edmonton area.

Building on the principles of the McNally report, Dr. Hanson based his recommendation on five requirements:

-71.

The social-economic requirement- the area of the municipality should correspond as closely as possible with the urban economic and social base;

2.

The democratic or political requirement - the local government should be so organized that the functions delegated by the Provincial Government can be performed on a uniform basis throughout the area;

3.

The administrative requirement - the organization must enable efficient planning and provision of services;

4.

The fiscal requirement - the organization should make the best and fullest use possible of the metropolitan tax base; and

5.

The intergovernmental requirement - the organization must enable efficient co-ordination of joint government services and maintain local autonomy.

The report then reviewed four alternative courses of action for the City of Edmonton: 1.

gradual annexation;

2.

one large expansion to include the whole metropolitan area under one Council;

3.

an expanded metropolitan area with a federated governmental structure; and

4.

a regional government with a federated structure.

The report concluded that a large expansion under a unitary local government was the best alternative. The boundaries of the proposal, although defined on a map by what has become known as the "Hanson Line", were to be flexible but ought to include:

-8--

1.

the industrial area immediately east of the present City;

2.

the dormitory centres of St. Albert and Sherwood Park;

3.

enough additional land to permit the planning and provision of a continuous supply of residential housing to provide room for industrial expansion, and to create a pleasant physical environment.

The recommended area is shown on Map II.

Submission to the Special Committee on the Power Commission Act

In 1968 Edmonton reviewed the form of government for the urban area in its submission to the Special Committee on the Power Commission Act. In the submission, the importance of coagulating the fragmented government forms in the urban area was re-emphasized. It was noted that residents of the suburban areas must either receive an inadequate supply of some urban services or make a considerable extra payment for the services ... the compact urban fbrm, and the clear definition between rural and urban offer a rare opportunity to create a single unit of local government embracing the entire urban area for a long time to come ... municipalities should be spared the problems arising from divided responsibilities for services" in the urban area.

Provincial Consideration of the Question

In 1969, the Alberta Housing Corporation undertook a Satellite Community Study. Prompted by the high serviced lot prices in the City of Edmonton, the study focussed on existing communities with available serviced land. The prime potential for satellite development was judged to be in the corridor communities along Highway 16 west and Highway 2 south.

-9-

SSL

...2 . 11EINIVIINIPIERM 4:RW:1 % Tri Mrdifilltr0

l ki iIe3 II l1111111 1MIL 46" 11 ii i1 .li —fi r r44 , I .. re a IN11 ill -F9W 11 r 11FighlErrilMF4TAVF.7.1.11/2".

Print ra, . lOi rt"lik djagillitraell: lialtallIPIte moo "k

ozlerordr mcmi gpar.fitiF.Triail 21111, iy,

IlliM, ir ,

imuilagrita IFEWIIIIIiiesiml 11E

THE CITY OF EDMONTON PLANNING DEPARTMENT

Nov. 1972

AREAS ANNEXED AFTER 1968 — 22,896 acres ( 35.7sq. miles )

-10-

The report recommended a direct mortgage lending program to facilitate house building in these communities.

Also in 1969, the Minister of Municipal Affairs called together representatives of the City of Edmonton, the Towns of Fort Saskatchewan and St. Albert, the M.D. of Sturgeon, the Counties of Strathcona and Parkland to explore the concept of voluntary negotiations aimed at settling the boundary question.

A meeting was held on October 20, 1969, with all of the municipalities represented. As a result of that meeting the City of Edmonton undertook negotiations with the surrounding municipalities. The Town of Spruce Grove also asked to be included.

When the purchase of the nine square mile Mill Woods area was announced during these negotiations, it was agreed that the annexation of that area would proceed independent of the areas under negotiation.

The group met again on July 22, 1970, and learned that: (1) M.D. of Sturgeon - a proposal had been discussed but by the application of B.A.C.M. Ltd. for the annexation of some 9 sections including the Canadian Forces Base, Griesbach, had complicated the situation.

(2) County of Strathcona - the County was prepared to release 27 sections (including Mill Woods) in one block and another area of 40 sections south and east of the City but was not prepared to discuss the industrial area east of the City.

-11(3) County of Parkland - agreement had been reached on the annexation of some 9 sections west of the City (now known as West Jasper Place).

(4) St. Albert - planned a plebiscite to determine the wishes of its citizens.

This totalled 85 sections on which an enlarged city might be based.

1972 Submission

In February of 1972 the City of Edmonton approved a submission to the provincial government "City Boundaries and a Unitary Form of Government".

The submission reiterated the need for an expansion of the City's boundaries, the flexibility of the City with regard to the drawing of the final boundary and recommended the establishment of a Boundaries Commission.

In the interim the West Jasper Place, Castle Downs (BACM) and Mill Woods areas had been annexed, a total area of 35.7 square miles (see Map II).

Boundaries Advisory Committee

On February 5, 1973, the Minister of Municipal Affairs announced the formation of a Boundaries Advisory Committee "to consider all factors relating to the establishment of municipal and school boundaries, to conduct public hearings and to recommend to the Government specific boundary proposals".

-12-

This submission could be directed to the Boundaries Advisory Committee for the following reasons:' 1.

The Committee is to concern itself with "boundaries that will most adequately and equitably provide for the orderly administration of school and municipal services".

2.

The Committee is to give special cognizance to "the most logical and equitable provision of municipal and school services to Alberta citizens, recognizing convenience to citizens and population trends", "the orderly planning and physical development of Alberta", "the desirability of coterminous boundaries where possible" and "the formation of jurisdictions that provide for logical and orderly municipal and school government".

3.

In the Legislature on February 27, 1973, the Minister of Municipal Affairs suggested that the City of Edmonton could continue to pursue the boundary question directly with the Provincial Government, could go directly to the Local Authorities Board, or "may wish to work with the other municipalities through the auspices of the Boundaries Advisory Committee".

Metropolitan Affairs Committee

However, pursuant to further conversations, this submission is directed to the Minister of Municipal Affairs. A decision would have to be taken by the Cabinet in any event. The submission is made now because the time is opportune to resolve the question of Edmonton's boundaries while all other municipal boundaries in the province are open to review.

APPENDIX AREA OF CITY OF EDMONTON IN ACREAGE AND SQUARE MILES

DATE Jan. 9/1892 April 29/1899 Oct. 8/1904 March 15/1907 March 8/1908 Dec. 20/1911 July 22/1912 Oct. 14/1912 March 25/1913 Jan. 19/1914 April 17/1917 Dec. 30/1947 Aug. 5/1950 March 2/1954 April 23/1954 Aug. 7/1956 April 15/1958 Jan. 1/1959 Dec. 30/1959 Dec. 30/1960 Dec. 31/1961 Aug. 17/1964 June 1/1967 Jan. 1/1969 Jan. 1/1970 Jan. 1/1971 Jan. 1/1972

CUMULATIVE ACREAGE

ANNEXED AREA

Incorporation of TOWN OF EDMONTON Incorporation of TOWN OF STRATHCONA (1000 acres) Incorporation of CITY OF EDMONTON (annexation of 2400 acres) Incorporation of CITY OF STRATHCONA (Annexation of 3800 acs.)

Annexation to City of Edmonton (4800 acres) Annexation to City of Edmonton (640 acres) and Amalgamation of Edmonton and Strathcona Belmont Part (640 acres and Kennedale (380 acres) West, North and Southeast Areas (9650 Acres Allendale (640 Acres) Calder (180 Acres) Pleasant View (160 Acres) Whitemud (85 Acres) Hardisty (820 Acres) and Coronet (160 Acres) Gold Bar (640 Acres) Davies Industrial (445 Acres) Ottewell (565 Acres) and Southwest Area (6950 Acres) Kenilworth (768 Acres) Beverly and Northeast Area (7050 Acres) Jasper Place and Southeast (10,830 Acres) Northeast (Power Plant) (36 Acres) West Jasper Place (1300 Acres) West Jasper Place (80 Acres) Mill Woods and B.A.C.M. (15,072 Acres) West Jasper Place (6444 Acres)

EQUIVALENT SQUARE MILES

2,160 3,160 5,560 9,360 14,160

3.37 4.93 8.87 14.62 22.12

14,800

23.12

15,820 25,470 26,110 26,290 26,450 26,535

24.72 39.79 40.79 41.07 41.32 41.46

27,515 28,155 28,600

42.99 43.99 44.68

36,115 36,883 43,933 54,763 54,799 56,099 56,179 71,251 77,695

56.43 57.63 68.64 85.57 85.62 87.62 87.75 111.32 121.39

PLANNING DEPARTMENT RESEARCH BRANCH MARCH, 1972

••

aa

I

I•

'

p.

•

••

.

11

El

2 •—•

_1.

1 r••".•

.•

•

'11

HISTORY OF ANNEXATIONS - CITY OF EDMONTON 1.4 St lb 141114$ 111111151111111 OF 1101* 1111101101

1450 ACS 11451.

ISIS All.

1.3 SO. 111.

INN44115111 OF 11011 OF STUMM

I 0 50 III 140 ACS 11.2f1151.1 ANNIIATION

1151 AU 10 1 SO MI 0070341 541111251 A1111141111

2411 ACS. 50 St NI. 11011$4111101 OF CIII Of (1101101

01 $4 11 III A05 CAL111 ANNE1ATION

211 ACS. 1104411 14 11111 14115101111 11111(151101

3111111 A13.

5.0 St NI. 111011111141111 Of C111 17 $TUMM

125 SO 11 4111714 III *CS A111141101 17EA5011 vif

11111 ACS. II II $4. It 0.4 25111 82141$1 ANS ININCAST *1111*711

ANS& 111 1 C11r4 1 11 111011101

05 A13 0 II $O 11 10.12474 1o7(1110 A111101101

11110 A15. 14.0 0(11 1.4034 I IS* 215211 11A1E 1111 5441111411 4.11(11.1111

441 ACS. 1.0 51.111 A11100111 Cl CI1T 4711111111

520 1 21 SO 11 1113212 1*014511 41121AION

15 *S. 1 05 SO. 11 (4 3034 50111110531 A1113A1101

ANA11411.1111 OF CIII OF 11101101 All CITT OF 01IA1110110

110 ACS 0.2$ 50.111 1119311 1010111 A11E111101

IS* ACS. L$ WM 0.41001 VEST 3O5111 *ACE AllE141.011

154 M 10 1$070.11711 :t: 0*0 .1iAT. 1

Of US. 1.1370 NI. If 4103 0151 110421 FUSE A700A1I11

1.1 51 NI 1.0.71712 440 A11.

1111125 11115111AL 4112141141

15114 A11 25.4 70. 1$ U 4114,310111014 11011 Oa SOMAS! 111117111111

1=3 ...= 1=3 loll 'Nal' Mho

*1111*711

10* $1. 11.

511 0011114.41 414114Ii4.

1112 CITY II Ill PLANNIC 12 POT** MN 312

340 ACS 017011 1113410 01111111.1. Allf1A11/1

4441 *15

III ACS

7,0.41i41.41..0411

llllll 111 11•4111EIATIoN 1111

II ACS

Alif181111 1111 SEPAIATIO1 112• 11121/11111111

101 ACS

11$1 5E0*III1I01 11•511(111101 1111

Sal .44 compiled 1m TN COMM. Re1.3.01

CHAPTER II

AN OVERVIEW WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT

-16-

Alberta has been undergoing one facet of the process of urbanization for a long time - the trend of population from rural to urban areas, from sparse to concentrated density of population. Since 1921 there has been a decrease in the percentage, and since 1941 a decrease in the absolute number of people living in rural Alberta. This is exemplified in the growth of the City of Edmonton.

Since incorporation as a city, Edmonton has experienced an annexation or amalgamation on the average of once every 30 months. The average annexation has been 2667 acres. This is the equivalent of one annexation of 1068 acres every year for the past 68 years.

Since 1947, there has been an annexation or amalgamation on the average of once every 19 months, the equivalent of 2064 acres per year over the past 25 years. This "ad hockery" in the determination of the urban form of Alberta's capital city has been encouraged by the absence of a provincial urban policy.

The 1956 McNally Report was a visionary document which unfortunately was not listened to by the government of the time. Since the publication of that report, there have been 12 annexations - the equivalent of one annexation every 16 months or 3132 acres per year every year for the past 16 years.

-17The population density per gross square mile is presently 3637.

Historically the major expansions of the City's boundaries have occurred when the density has risen to the 4500 range. Another piecemeal expansion of boundaries will occur during the early 1970's if the historical pattern is followed (Appendix, Table II).

Continuing turbulence has characterized the long-term planning of all functions of the City and the relationship between the City, the surrounding municipalities and the private utility companies. Utility servicing areas have been sources of continual friction. There has been a lack of adequate parameters for planning. Surrounding municipalities have been understandably reluctant to apply the attention and resources necessary to areas which appeared to be inevitable subjects of annexation applications.

The City has inherited "hodge-podge", substandard development. Almost ten years after annexation, the City is still resolving problems in Jasper Place because of underdeveloped utility services caused by the Town's lack of adequate financial resources to provide local improvements up to the standard of a major metropolitan area. In this sense, substandard developments are continually proposed and sometimes implemented on the periphery of the City.

The surrounding municipalities are small and lack the resources necessary to provide the specialization and expertise needed to deal with a modern metropolitan community. They provide excellent government for the constituency they were intended to serve, but they are removed from the urban environment. The type of resources, expertise,

goals, objectives and life styles which they experience are quite different than those of the urban community.

Sometimes, against their will, they are forced to dabble in urban affairs. They are under increasingly intense pressure from developers. The type of development proposed most often assumes an urban climate. Meanwhile, these surrounding governments are designed and equipped to provide rural facilities.

There are often no developed standards and principles to control growth, particularly with regard to protecting the environment of the residents of the metropolitan area over the long term.

EDMONTON REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION The Edmonton Regional Planning Commission (ERPC), according to the Planning Act, has the responsibility to develop a regional plan which shall include "(2 schedule setting out the sequence in which the public services and facilities ... should be provided" (Sec. 69(c) (iv), Chap. 276, R.S.A. 1970).

The ERPC has been

characterized by a lack of involvement in these issues.

The prime function of the ERPC has been in dealing with individual subdivision application matters and rural plans. Inadequate staffing has resulted in the very thin spread of the staff in advisory capacities to member municipalities and a lack of major policy advice to the Commission. The vast majority of staff time is spent in dealing with individual subdivision applications. The consequence is that there has been little time to deal with future studies.

-19-

Included in the advisory powers of the ERPC is that of advising on "the adjustment of boundaries between municipalities and the annexation of territory by or the amalgamation of municipalities" (Sec. 68(a), Chap. 276, R.S.A. 1970). This has been an abrogated responsibility until very recently when the ERPC began to develop a policy on annexations among the member municipalities.

THE PROVINCE The political fragmentation of the urban area forces the Province to intervene directly or in an intermediary role in the local affairs of the area. Provincial involvement in water transmission lines, for example, has been substantial. In the absence of the resolution of the fragmentation of local political authority, the Province will be forced to further intervention in the form of a decree establishing a fourth level of government to deal with issues such as water supply and transportation.

With the limited exception of the ERPC, every regional authority in the Edmonton area has been ineffective to date. The Province has had to deal with the financial situation of the existing rural water boards and the problem of hospital districts losing assessment by annexation. The ineffectiveness of the ERPC has been mentioned above.

Yet the requirement for further regional authorities for health, social services, recreation, fire and police protection is not too difficult to visualize.

-20-

Through its policies, which have the effect of encouraging growth outside the boundaries of the City, the Province is contributing to the growth of an urban jungle in the Edmonton area. The large portion of the growth which occurs in St. Albert and Sherwood Park - 54.8% in 1971-73 - is not in true satellite communities. These are rather sprawling extensions of the development within the City proper.

Population growth in the metropolitan area has maintained an annual rate of 13-15,000 for the past seven years.

In recent years there has been a dramatic shift in the location of population growth in the metropolitan area - from 81.7% within the City in 1969-70 to 68.1% outside the City in the 1971-73 period. This significant disruption in the pattern of metropolitan growth began to appear in 1970-71 and has accelerated (Appendix, Table III). The percentage of the total metropolitan population living within the City of Edmonton has declined from 91.8% in 1967 to 87.2% in 1973 (Appendix, Table IV).

MULTI-MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES The following Multi-municipal authorities presently exist; 1. Health - Edmonton Area Hospital Planning Council - Edmonton and Rural Auxiliary Hospital and Nursing Home District No. 24 2. Planing - Edmonton Regional Planning Commission 3. Emergency Measures - Edmonton Area Emergency Measures Organization

-21-

4.

Industrial Development - Edmonton Area Industrial Development Association.

5.

Water - Parkland Water Board - Northeast Water Board - Strathcona - Leduc Water Board

Water lines presently extend from the City of Edmonton: a)

east and north to the County of Strathcona, the Towns of Fort Saskatchewan and Redwater, the M.D. of Sturgeon and the M.D. of Thorhild;

b)

south to the Counties of Strathcona and Leduc, the International Airport and the Town of Leduc;

c)

west to the County of Parkland and the Towns of Spruce Grove and Stony Plain;

d)

north and west to St. Albert; and

e)

north to CFB Namao (Map 4)

Services to property outside the City boundaries were becoming such a drain on Edmonton that City Council, on March 12, 1973, passed the following resolution: "1.

2.

Requests for water, sanitary sewer, or storm drainage service by neighbouring communities now served in the Edmonton Metro Area will continue to be met to the limit of existing lines and agreements.

Applicants for additional services from City facilities over and above those now currently supplied will be referred to the Municipal Government body for the area in which the applicant's lands are situated. In addition, the applicant will be advised that for the interim period until the annexation and amalgamation question is resolved, it will be the City policy not to extend additional services to lands outside the City boundaries, nor to permit additional applicants to tie into existing lines within the City except in instances . where at this date, negotiations between Commissioners and adjoining municipalities were underway which would result in an integrated and logical extension of servicing, the Commissioners should be permitted to continue to negotiate with a view to arriving at a satisfactory agreement and to bring it back to

-22-

MAP 4

M. D. of Westlock

County of Thorhi Id

MI MONO MMIN S 41=IM • In

NMI IS MN= MA

ori

smi

R EDWATER •

I II I. I • • ,4*

a M. D. of Sturgeon

a

'1%

/

I •

•

I I' I

tre

/I

N AMAO

St. ALBERT

SPRUCE GROVE •

r

1.1

FORT SASKATCHEWAN

./ • e7 • • • •• • • PI

County of Strathcona

•

•

11111111111INIMI 111111111111111111111•11•1

SHER WOOD PARK

STONY PLAIN

County of Parkland

MIMI .

IN IIIIMMI•11 •

•

I ea% . .....

# ..... • j

4. ...5/ =

4.

5

..". . tm.a •I • /

IIMIN • • =MI 0 a1111 NM- a 1111111111 IN MIMI IN MINN ;. .0"

15

•

•

LI

•

INTERNATIONAL / AIRPORT

5 INIM = IliM• • 111=0

County

LEDUC

WATER LINES LEAVING EDMONTON

I •

of Leduc

NE= MI MEM 1111

City of Edmonton April, 1973

-23Council for consideration.

3.

If an applicant for services is prepared to seek annexation on terms agreeable to the City, then following annexation, services can be scheduled for the new area as a normal extension of existing services."

There are seven critical traffic entrances to Edmonton: 1)

on the south, Highway 2 from Red Deer, Calgary and the U.S.;

2)

on the west, Highway 16 (Yellowhead Route) with traffic from Alaska, British Columbia and points in between;

3)

on the northwest, Highway 2 with commuters from St. Albert and traffic from Swan Hills, Slave Lake and Athabasca;

4)

on the north, Highway 28

5)

on the northeast, the Manning Freeway, which together with Highway 28 carries commuters from Fort Saskatchewan and traffic from Fort McMurray, Cold Lake and the area;

6)

on the east, Highway 16 (Yellowhead Route) with traffic from Lloydminster and Saskatchewan; and

7)

also on the east, the Sherwood Park Freeway with traffic from Wainwright, Camrose, Provost and the south eastern areas (Map 5).

MAP 5

-24—

ALASKA

YUKON

Fort McMurray

Slave Lake°"°"" Athabasca Swan Hills Cold Lake

St. Albert Prince Rupert

71t7.)

Lloyd minster

mrose

Wainwright

Provost

Red Deer

Calgary

HIGHWAYS ENTERING EDMONTON

City of Edmonton April, 1973

U.S.A.

Edmonton must provide the commuter routes to enable traffic to flow smoothly among these highways as it passes through the City.

Edmonton's traffic artery priorities have at times been disrupted by the precipitate provincial construction of these major roadways to the City boundaries. The continued sprawl adjacent to the City boundaries indicates that more problems of this type are likely to occur in the future if there is not planning co-ordination.

The Province has yet to deal with the problem of public transportation in the urban area. An appreciated but timid step was recently taken in the revised terms of reference for city transportation grants. There yet remains the fact that there is no effective longterm planning of rail freight services in the Edmonton area by any authority, which is particularly crucial for industrial development.

Surrounding municipalities expect fire protection assistance from the Edmonton Fire Department (EFD). With the exception of Sturgeon, the surrounding municipalities have agreements with the City for "back-up" protection. Yet many surrounding residents expect the EFD to make the first response. The agreements provide for a response fee as a contribution to operating costs but make no provision for the capital investment required to ensure that men and equipment are available to make the response. Nor do the surrounding municipalities adequately inform their citizens of the nature of the agreements.

-26--

Industry wants to be near a large employment base and expects and requires good services. Because of Edmonton's focal nature, the Province must be concerned about haphazard development in the Edmonton area. If Edmonton loses its attractiveness to industry, Alberta suffers a consequent loss. One Alberta alternative is eliminated from western Canadian locational choices.

The pivotal nature of Edmonton for supplying the Tar Sands development; the potential of Edmonton as the regional distribution centre for a growing western population; the proximity of Edmonton to the great Canadian north all demand Provincial concern for the orderly and effective development of the capital city's industrial base.

There is a lack of decent metropolitan recreational facilities due in no small measure to the fragmentation of ownership of public lands in the urban area. Such facilities are needed, particularly for deprived residents, and on a scale requiring major local government involvement. Fragmented authority prohibits such development.

The Provincial and Federal governments are forced to deal with a diversified fragmentation of authorities when attempting to serve the urban area. Intergovernmental communications, therefore, become confused and complicated to the point that it is virtually Impossible to interpret metropolitan Edmonton to outside authorities.

St. Albert is attempting to maintain its political autonomy with an imbalanced tax base. Its efforts to obtain industrial assessment have been relatively unsuccessful because it lacks the blue collar labour pool which industry desires. Its efforts to obtain the highest level of residential assessment have resulted in the exclusion of lower income groups and the evolution of a white collar dormitory suburb.

St. Albert is now at a threshold point with regard to its sewer and water facilities. If residential location patterns shift within the metropolitan area, its expanding revenue base will falter and the new utility requirements will leave the residents with an extravagent burden of debt service.

The Municipal District of Sturgeon must deal with urban intrusions into this rural municipality. It functions well as a rural municipality but is beyond its intent in the urban situation. It must attempt to provide the services required by urban land uses through a rural tax base.

Sherwood Park is inadequately represented on the Council of the County of Strathcona. The citizens could incorporate as one of the largest urban municipalities in the province but are reluctant to do so for fear of losing the major industrial tax base of "refinery row" which they now share. Their urban outlook contrasts vividly with the rural outlook of the remainder of the County and the majority of the County Council.

By itself the community has an imbalanced tax base. It serves as a blue and white collar dormitory suburb from which traffic streams in ever-increasing volumes each morning. Lack of adequate public transportation, with transfer provision to other than the city centre, forces its workers into cars. A second car becomes a necessity for the housebound housewife. The Province was forced to enter the metropolitan transportation scheme to construct the Sherwood Park freeway.

Edmonton lacks industrial elbow room. There is little M-3 (heavy industrial) land available and only an intermediate supply for other industrial purposes. Its citizens indirectly subsidize the suburbanites through the maintenance of arterial roads, the provision of treated water to the surrounding area, the provision of major recreational space in the river valley, the provision of backup fire protection, and the inequitable distribution of low-income families in this segment of the urban unit.

ALL ONE The inter-relatedness of the metropolitan area is easily visualized through the following daily traffic flow information.

1972 TRAFFIC FLOW POINT 137 Ave. & St. Albert Trail

COUNT 20,100

97 St. & 144 Ave.

8,500

Highway 15 & 50 St.

8,aoo

Highway 16 & 34 St.

12,300

-29-

Highway 16A & 50 St.

12,000

Sherwood Park Freeway & 50 St.

22,700

Highway 2 & Whitemud Drive

20,200

Highway 16 & 170 St.

19,900

A further demonstration is the toll-free telephone area Edmonton, St. Albert, Sherwood Park, Spruce Grove, Namao Airport, Edmonton International Airport, Ardrossan.

St. Albert is a dormitory of Edmonton. Edmonton is a dormitory of the Counties of Strathcona and Parkland and the M.D. of Sturgeon industrial areas. Sherwood Park is a dormitory of Edmonton. In fact the urbanized area is an economic whole but the whole is sliced up so that the magnet of industrial location - the labour pool, transportation facilities, services, expertise of the whole urban area can neither act as unified whole nor gain all the benefits of the magnet.

The continual piecemeal approach to the boundary question has resulted in either a reluctance to make decisions through uncertainty or the making of planning decisions which appeared good but became bad upon a further annexation. This administrative and political dither does not lead to effective or efficient government.

In summary, the area has been characterized by developing paranoia. Everyone thinks they are being "had" by some other artifically separated part of the area. By and large this has

-30-

been due to the failure of the Provincial Government to enunciate an urban policy and particularly its failure to deal with urban form.

With no need to defend previous actions or lack thereof, the present government is in an ideal position to take creative, decisive action to meet this challenge.

IT'S HAPPENING ELSEWHERE This situation is not unique to the Edmonton area. Several Canadian jurisdictions have attempted to deal with metropolitan government in differing ways.

Montreal The Montreal Urban Community was established in 1969. It brought together the City of Montreal and 32 surrounding municipalities.

Each community has one representative and each member carries with him a number of votes equal to the 1000's of people living in his community.

However, program proposals may not be approved in 1/3 of the suburban voters are not in favor or if the City of Montreal is not in favor.

The creation has not been easy. A sufficient number of problems have been discovered that a four-man committee of Provincial and Municipal experts has been formed. This Committee is to report in 1973. The Montreal Urban Community does not include all the municipalities in the greater Montreal area but is an interesting Canadian experiment.

-31-

Toronto The Metropolitan Toronto experiment is the oldest and most famous Canadian attempt to deal with the urban fact. Its genesis is interesting because the Ontario Municipal Board was faced with two distinct proposals in 1950 on the future of the City of Toronto and the surrounding municipalities.

The City of Toronto proposed a huge amalgamation while the Town of Mimico proposed a federated arrangement.

The Board in its decision recognized many advantages in the outright amalgamation of thirteen municipalities involved as proposed by the City of Toronto. The amalgamation of thirteen municipal governments into one would facilitate planning, provision of water and sewer systems, arterial highways, parks and recreational areas, public transportation and other physical needs of the area. At the same time the problem of the prevailing inequitable distribution of taxable resources would be solved and the borrowing power of the single municipality would be greater than that of any combination of the existing municipalities.

The Board rejected this approach, however, because it foresaw in it a considerable administrative confusion, an immediate rise in taxes necessary to bring the suburban wage and salary scales and working conditions up to the city level and the expectation of the immediate provision of equal services to all residents of the new municipality. The Board further questioned the ability of a single all-powerful council to deal knowledgeably and effectively with the great variety of local problems which were then facing local councils. The Board also questioned its justification in ordering a radical revision of municipal authority which was strongly opposed by eleven of the municipalities involved.

-32-

In considering the joint management plan proposed by the Town of Mimico, the Board realized that this plan would meet most of the objections to amalgamation. Local councils, close to the people, would continue to exist but a co-ordinated approach to the whole area would be possible.

The proposal also provided for a sharing of the burden of supply of municipal services benefiting the area as well as the site municipality. Ontario had legislative provision for joint management prior to the Mimico suggestion.

The Board regarded this approach as insufficient, however, in that under prevailing conditions it provided only for the administration of certain services with no provision for planning or construction of extensions or new services. Several other problems of the existing legislation were enumerated. The Board decided to reject the Mimico application too.

The Board decided to put forward its own proposal because it recognized both the "underlying social and economic unity of the area on the one hand, and the illogical and inequitable but extremely rigid divisions of political jurisdiction and available taxable resources on the other." To meet these, the Board opted for the principle of federation, opining that "a strong central authority is the best method of dealing with vital problems affecting the entire area and ... that the retention of local governments for local purposes is not only desirable but necessary." To avoid duplication of functions, the suburbs which were part of counties were removed from the counties.

-33-

The powers delegated to the Metropolitan Council were: 1.

Water Supply and Wholesale Distribution

2.

Sewage and Drainage

3.

Education

4.

Public Transportation

5.

Metropolitan Highways

6.

Statutory County Functions

7.

Public Housing

8.

Regional Planning Zoning

9.

Metropolitan Parks

10.

Assessment

In 1963 the Ontario Government appointed Mr. H. Carl Goldenberg as a Commissioner to examine the Metropolitan Corporation to see whether it had lived up to its aims and expectations. He judged the creation of Metro in 1953 "a bold experiment which has been justified by the accomplishments of more than a decade of operations."

He made several

recommendations for organizational revisions and particularly for revision of the powers of Metro Council to include: 1.

Transit

2.

Roads

3.

Traffic Management

4.

Public Housing

5.

Health and Welfare

6.

Waste Disposal

7.

Sewer Renewals

8.

Parks and Recreation

9.

Police

-34-

10.

Administration of Justice

11.

Licensing of Metro-wide Businessess

12.

Education with Local District Education Councils

13.

Planning

The Metropolitan Council was to consist of 9 members: 4 from the City, 4 from the suburbs as a group and a chairman appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council. The City's four members were to be appointed by Council resolution and the four members representing the suburbs were to be appointed by four groups of suburban councils in joint sessions called for the purpose.

Winnipeg The Winnipeg experiment in federated metropolitan government ended in 1972 with the establishment of what has become known as the "unicity" of Winnipeg. There are 50 aldermen, each representing a ward of 10-11,000 people, and a mayor elected for a three-year term. The first mayor was elected at large but subsequently is to be chosen by the 50 aldermen. This appears to be leading to a municipal party system.

There are also 30 community committees, seven of which coincide with historical municipal boundaries and the remainder being in the inner city. A community conference is to be held at least once a year when resident advisors can be elected. Advisors and aldermen from each community must meet at least once each month. Of the 48 advisors selected, only about 6 were left after the first 11 months.

Recently a similar bold move has been undertaken in British Columbia with the unification of the urban areas surrounding Kamloops.

-35-

It will never be easier to re-organize the local government structure of Alberta than at the present. The historical experience of Alberta has been that the older the settlement, the less the chances of reform of municipal organization. The time is now to deal with Alberta's capital region if the historical problems of major urban centres are to be avoided. The previous government could not, or would not, solve the problem. This government can and should and it should avoid the timidity that characterized the Ontario Municipal Board decision.

The number of multi-municipal organizations presently existing, those at the talking stage - e.g. mosquito abatement, regional parks, and those which will be needed in the near future, indicate the necessity of a unified authority for the Edmonton Metropolitan area.

The problem is to define a reasonable municipal area and a suitable form of local government to facilitate the effective and efficient provision of public services while at the same time ensuring easy access by the people to elected and appointed officials of the municipality.

-36APPENDIX

TABLE I POPULATION OF ALBERTA: TOTAL YEAR POPULATION

SELECTED YEARS

RURAL

% TOTAL

URBAN

% TOTAL

1921

588,454

365,550

62.1

222,904

37.9

1931

731,605

453,097

61.9

278,508

38.1

1951

939,501

451,313

48.0

488,188

52.0

1971

1,619,305

399,557

24.7

1,219,748

75.3

1973

1,662,828

386,828

23.3

1,276,000

76.7

TABLE II POPULATION DENSITY AT JANUARY 1 IN SELECTED YEARS: EDMONTON YEAR

POPULATION

AREA (SQ. M.)

DENSITY

1958

252,131

44.68

5643

1961

276,018

68.64

4021

1967

381,230

85.57

4455

1970 (1) 1980

422,418

87.62

4821

550,000

121.39

4530

(1)

It is projected that the population of the City of Edmonton will reach 550,000 prior to 1980.

-37TABLE III ANNUAL POPULATION GROWTH: SELECTED MUNICIPALITIES 1969 TO 1973.

(1) 1971-73 AVERAGE PERSONS % TOTAL

% TOTAL

1970-71 PERSONS

% TOTAL

341

2.3

432

2.1

511

3.6

Leduc

448

3.0

291

1.4

601

4.2

St. Albert

339

2.2

719

3.5

1919

13.5

Spruce Grove

387

2.6

1596

7.8

775

5.5

1230

8.2

4479

21.7

5861

41.3

2745

18.3

7517

36.5

9667

68.1

Edmonton

12313

81.7

13085

63.5

4513

31.9

TOTAL

15058

100.0

20602

100.0

14180

100.0

1969-70 PERSONS

Ft. Saskatchewan

MUNICIPALITY

Strathcona Sub-Total

(1) A census amendment for1972 for the County of Strathcona is not reported in the DMA figures (Municipal Counsellor, July August, 1973). Further, a census error discovered in 1973 resulted in a cecreased population reported for the City of Edmonton for 1973. To allow for these aberrations the 1971-73 average is used.

TABLE IV POPULATION 1967, 1971, 1973:

MUNICIPALITY

PERSONS

1967 % TOTAL

SELECTED MUNICIPALITIES

PERSONS

1971 % TOTAL

PERSONS

1973 % TOTAL

Ft. Saskatchewan

4277

1.0

5734

1.2

6756

1.3

Leduc

3029

.7

4070

.8

5271

1.1

St. Albert

9828

2.4

11249

2.3

15068

3.0

640

.2

2706

.6

4256

.8

16185

3.9

21894

4.6

33617

6.6

Edmonton

381230

91.8

435503

90.5

441530

87.2

TOTAL

415189

100.0

481156

100.0

506518

100.0

Spruce Grove Strathcona

CHAPTER III

ON WHICH TO BASE THE FUTURE

-39-

1.

THE URBANIZED AREA SHOULD BE CONTAINED IN ONE GOVERNING UNIT TO OPTIMIZE LONG-RANGE, COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING FOR THE AREA. COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING, TO BE MEANINGFUL, REQUIRES THE INTEGRATION OF POLITICAL, ADMINISTRATIVE, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND PHYSICAL PLANNING. AN URBANIZED AREA WHICH IS IN FACT ONE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC UNIT CAN BE MORE EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY GOVERNED

BY ONE MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY, HOWEVER STRUCTURED, THAN BY A MULTIPLICITY OF LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES.

The problems of major metropolitan areas seem insurmountable, not because of a lack of technology to deal with them, but because it is so difficult to come to grips with them. This difficulty is often multiplied because there are so many neighbouring and often overlapping jurisdictions which have to be brought together to deal with them.

The Alberta Government position paper issued in September, 1970 recognized four inadequacies which plague municipalities: 1)

inadequate revenue

2)

inadequate control

3)

inadequate management

4)

inadequate knowledge

In discussing inadequate control the paper noted, in addition conditional grants and senior government lack of consultation, that "the problem of inadequate control can also exist in the form of too many municipalities in the same functional urban area, or in the same rural region."

-40-

As the brochure for Toronto's PROMUS puts it "There has been evolving an understanding that programs instituted in one functional segment of the City or Vetropolitan System (such as transportation) can have both direct and indirect effects, both productive and counter-productive, in other functional segments, especially over time"

It is very difficult to assign the modern municipal agenda to one or another segment of the metropolitan area. Roads, airport location, water supply, sewage disposal, industrial development, major recreation facilities and hospitals all have trans-boundary implications. As Eric Beecroft has put it: "The subjects on the agenda before us are urbanrural subjects, and, however great the difficulties, we must devise decision-making bodies to suit the agenda. Fbr too long, we have been distorting the agenda to fit the existing fragmented machinery, or putting the agenda aside, or referring the items on it to committees of inquiry, ad hoc agencies or advisory planning bodies." ("Agenda for Regional Government" in Regional Development)

2.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT HAS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING OF ITS CITIZENS. IT MUST HAVE UNDER ITS JURISDICTION A SUPPLY OF LAND ADEQUATE TO MEET RESIDENTIAL, RECREATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL NEEDS, BOTH IMMEDIATE AND LONG-TERM.

Historically the preoccupation of local government has been the provision of physical services to property. The argument that the local government's main sources of revenue, the property tax, should be used for services to property, evolves from this historical fact.

-41-

In recent years the attention of urban local governments has been increasingly directed to social concerns or concerns about the quality of life. This reflects the evolving concerns of its citizens and is generally regarded as an indication of developing maturity in local government. The changing emphasis has been caused by the absence or insufficiency of senior government programs to meet local situations.

Local governments now are concerned to provide expanding industrial development in order to ensure employment opportunities for their citizens. The provision of a residential land supply adequate to meet the demand is as much a concern to provide affordable housing as it is to provide the labour pool necessary to attract industry. The concern is now for the whole individual rather than treating him in parts.

In a major metropolitan area, large scale decisions are required to meet these concerns. Local governments must deal as much with the future as with the present. The local government must have under its jurisdiction a sufficient supply of land to enable it to plan for the recreational, residential and employment opportunities of its citizens in the foreseeable future.

3.

THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE BURDENS OF THE SERVICES AND FACILITIES IN A LARGE URBAN COMMUNITY SHOULD BE EQUITABLY SHARED BY ALL THE BENEFICIARIES IN THE IMMEDIATE URBAN AREA. CONVERSELY, THE BENEFITS OF THE SERVICES AND FACILITIES IN A LARGE URBAN COMMUNITY SHOULD BE EQUITABLY SHARED BY ALL THOSE BEARING THE BURDENS.

-42-

Normal municipal organization provides a clear separation between government styles. A town contains the majority of the urban style of development and is surrounded by farmland. Annexation takes place either to provide room for further urban growth or to emcompass any urban style of growth that may have taken place on the periphery.

Normally where urban concentrations abut, an amalgamation occurs a marriage of the similar areas - or some joint government foim is established. For example, the contiguous development of Port Arthur and Fort William recently resulted in the creation of the one municipality of Thunder Bay in Ontario. Closer to home, Jasper Place and Beverly became part of the City of Edmonton in the early 1960's. These actions occurred in order that the citizens could share equitably in the urban life style which they had come to expect. A large urban centre is able to support many facilities and services which cannot be supported by smaller population concentrations. Thus towns at significant distances from the urban centre will always depend on that urban centre for some services and facilities.

However, the dependence of suburban towns is of a quite different order than that of the more remote towns. The interdependence of the social and economic unit has been dealt with elsewhere in this submission.

Edmontonians work in surrounding municipalities and do not share the tax revenue accruing from their place of work. Suburban residents work in Edmonton and do not share the tax revenue accruing from their place of work or from the regional shopping centres or the city centre commercial area where they make their major purchases.

-43Suburban residents make significant use of the major recreational and cultural facilities of the core city - such as Edmonton's river valley park system and the library - which are not ordinarily used by more remote residents. The distinction between the suburban population concentrations and the satellite or more remote towns is important to note.

The continual communication between residents of the urban unit results in a common level of expectations. Residents in each part expect the same levels and types of services as are available in the other parts.

But some parts are governed in a rural manner; some parts lack the financial resources and expertise necessary to provide the services; some parts ignore service responsibilities expecting other parts to undertake them.

For example, the only municipality in the urban unit with a public housing program is the City of Edmonton.

4.

AN URBAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT SHOULD GOVERN URBAN AREAS. A RURAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT SHOULD GOVERN RURAL AREAS. URBAN GOVERNMENTS ARE NEITHER DESIGNED NOR EQUIPPED TO GOVERN RURAL AREAS. RURAL GOVERNMENTS ARE NEITHER DESIGNED NOR EQUIPPED TO GOVERN URBAN AREAS. CITIZENS HAVE A RIGHT TO A FORM OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT THAT REFLECTS THEIR STYLE OF LIFE.

There are many differences of form between rural and urban governments as established by provincial legislation. It has been the obvious intention of the Legislature that cities, towns, new towns, villages and summer villages would be urban areas and that Counties and Municipal Districts would be rural areas. For example, The Municipal Taxation Act provides that farm buildings are exempt from assessment only outside of urban municipalities.

-44-

Perhaps the most obvious difference is that the electoral divisions established by the Minister of Municipal Affairs pursuant to the County Act provide for geographical representation. County electoral divisions are generally of an area which a councillor might reasonably be expected to oversee - a service for which he still receives a supervision fee.

By contrast The Municipal Government Act provides that where wards are established in a City, this shall be done "in such a manner that the number of electors residing in each ward is substantially equal" (Sec. 27(a), Chap. 246, RSA, 1970).

The conflict between representation by geography for rural areas and by population for urban areas has been particularly evident in the case of Sherwood Park. This essentially urban area expects representation by population. But this is an urban intrusion with which the rural government form is not designed to deal. The recent addition of representation for Sherwood Park on the County Council compromises both representation by geography and by population.

It is likely that exceptions to this principle will always exist.

Urban areas will always contain rural lands in order to plan for future development. Rural areas will always contain some element of urban shadow development. However, large urban development is incongruous in the rural system in the same manner that agricultural services are incongruous in the urban system. A conscious attempt should be made to avoid intrusions of one life style into another form of government and where this does occur the situation should be corrected.

-45-

5.

THE FORM WHICH LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHALL TAKE IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT. THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT HAS THE DUTY TO CARRY OUT ITS RESPONSIBILITY IN A DECISIVE AND TIMELY MANNER. THIS DUTY INCLUDES PERIODIC REVIEWS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FORMS AND BOUNDARIES TO ENSURE THAT THESE REFLECT THE CURRENT AND FORESEEABLE SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC SITUATION. LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE SO ORGANIZED THAT THE AREA BENEFITING FROM GIVEN SERVICES IS CONTAINED WITHIN ITS BOUNDARIES IN ORDER THAT JOINT FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL-MUNICIPAL SERVICES CAN BE CO-ORDINATED EFFICIENTLY.

The Canadian constitutional fact is that municipal governments are the creatures of the Provinces. While the present relevance of that historical situation is open to question, it is, nonetheless, a fact. The Province has the responsibility to create forms of local government which match the life styles of the citizens.

The variety of forms through which local government has evolved indicates that the Alberta Government has always taken this responsibility seriously and in many cases creatively. However, when Calgary and Edmonton began to emerge as major metropolitan centres, the Province lost its initiative. The Province has always been more conversant with rural life than with urban life. It has ignored or avoided city urban style with direct or indirect attempts to direct people's attention elsewhere. In many ways the metropolitan centre is an urban intrusion into a rural province in the same manner as Sherwood Park is an urban intrusion into the County of Strathcona.

-46-

In recent years the Province has reacted rather than actively undertaking its responsibility. Since the establishment of the government form known as the "New Town" little has come forth from the Province on government form. As a result both boundaries and form have been left behind by current situations. Good decisions in the past are now outdated. The normal process of problem-solutionevaluation has been perfunctorily halted after the solution stage.

The artificiality of boundaries confounds sincere provincial attempts to come to grips with current situations. Intergovernmental relations in the fragmented whole are at least difficult and perhaps impossible for no one can be said to speak for the urban unit. This leads to inefficient and ineffective implementation of senior government programs which require municipal participation or administration.

6.

A SUFFICIENT AMOUNT OF LOCAL AUTONOMY MUST BE MAINTAINED TO ENABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO CARRY OUT ITS RESPONSIBILITIES EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY.

In its wisdom as creator, the Province cedes to municipalities the duty of performing some of its responsibilities. To carry out these responsibilities effectively and efficiently, the local government must be able to act as freely and with as much authority as would the Province if it was undertaking the task.

To deal effectively and efficiently with the urban unit, some local authority must be able to come to grips with the whole situation.

Edmonton is a depressed area as far as local autonomy is concerned for

-47-

a jungle of local governments and agencies each claims a piece of the action of the urban unit. By failing to come to grips with the fact of the urban unit, the Province is depriving all residents of the area of the full extent of their local autonomy. No form has authority to deal with the whole unit in an efficient and effective manner.

This view may seem extreme when compared with the boundaries fragmentation of American cities. However, it is important to recognize the system into which Edmonton is becoming locked by provincial failure to come to grips with the capitol metropolitan area.

CHAPTER IV

THE BOUNDARY ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

-49--

The following discussion considers the application of the six principles enunciated in the previous chapter to three alternative general decision possibilities: Alternative I - no adjustment of boundaries.

Alternative II - minor adjustment of boundaries.

Alternative III- major adjustment of boundaries.

Alternative I - NO ADJUSTMENT To decide that there should be no adjustment of boundaries would be to confirm the "status quo". The effects will be the same whether there is a conscious decision not to adjust the boundaries or if the Province fails to make a decision. This policy would fail to recognize the urban dilemma of the present situation.

1. "One Unit" The urban unit would remain fragmented. Failing planning integration, no substantive, long-range social or economic planning could be undertaken. Each part of the urban unit would continue to direct its attention to its own self-interest to the ultimate detriment of itself, the other parts and the urban unit as a whole.

The continued fragmentation of the urban unit will result in an inability to provide required services over the long term.

Fragmented service delivery systems would continue to be ineffectively governed by a multiplicity of bodies frustrating the needs and desires of the citizens.

-50-

2. Social & Economic Well-Being The present situation does not allow the City proper sufficient industrial elbow room to provide the employment opportunities required by its gross labour force. It does allow sufficient room for residential expansion for some time to come. However it is deficient in room for major industrial and recreational facilities which require large tracts of land.

Particularly there are no suitable sites for heavy industrial (M-3) uses within the City. Once attracted to Edmonton such industries are forced to locate outside the city boundaries.

Yet the focus of attraction is the city, its labour force and amenities.

The only conscious attempt to produce reasonably priced residential lots in the urban unit is within the City of Edmonton

Woods).

The only public housing program in the urban unit is undertaken by the City of Edmonton. The majority of programs for dependent or indigent individuals would continue to be offered in the City of Edmonton.

The end result is: a) the concentration of the majority of social responsibility forthe urban unit in the City of Edmonton, but no assured method of dealing with the social concerns of the urban unit.

-51-

b) the undertaking by one segment of the unit of the major economic promotion for the urban unit, but no assured method of ensuring that the whole unit participates.

c) the absence of co-ordinated social and economic planning for the urban unit.

3. Equity Benefits and burdens would continue to be inequitably distributed over the urban unit. Standards of service would continue at different levels. Edmonton's Business Development Department would continue to attract industry to the whole urban unit, but Edmontonians would bear the cost.

In 1972 the citizens of Edmonton budgeted $1,858,000 for planning within the City. By comparison the total budget of the Edmonton Regional Planning Commission was $308,500 of which $19,187.23 was provided by the City of Edmonton through the requisition of the Alberta Planning Fund.

It is true that some of the other participating municipalities purchase some planning services from private consultants. However the budget figures indicate that Edmontonians provide the majority of the planning thought in the area.

Edmonton would continue to be charged with the initiative for water treatment facilities and sewage treatment facilities for the urban unit; to bear the cost of maintenance and traffic

-52-

control on the commuter arterial roadways; to bear the cost of the river valley park system.

The disproportionate share of dependent individuals within the City would increase compounding the social disorganization which this creates and depriving the remainder of the unit of the opportunity to share in social concern.

Residents of the urban unit consider themselves, in effect, Edmontonians. These "non-resident Edmontonians" enjoy the cultural and social amenities which Edmonton provides and use the major roadways as much or more than resident Edmontonians to get to work, to shopping centres, or to recreation areas.

Indeed, it could be argued that many of the major roadways exist primarily because of the non-resident Edmontonians. The lack of good commuter public transportation facilities from outer communities forces many suburban residents to drive their cars to work whether they want to or not. The City is required, therefore, to pay the cost of daytime overflow from the suburbs. But the non-resident Edmontonians do not pay for any of the Edmonton services which they enjoy and demand.

The total cost of construction within the City of Highway 14, St. Albert Trail, Highway 15 (to May 31, 1973) and the Beverly Bridge and approaches (to May 31, 1973) was $8,191,975.14. Funds for this construction were provided by:

-53City of Edmonton

$2,673,060.02

32.6%

Province of Alberta

4,412,255.14

53.9%

Grade Crossing Fund

1,062,500.00

13.0%

Other

44,159.98

.5%

Total

$8,191,975.14

100.0%

The real cost to Edmontonians is the projects which could have been undertaken if the City's share had not been required to construct connections between provincial highways at the city limits and the interior roadways of the City.

Fragmented jurisdiction results in an inability to plan orderly and efficient development which would aid in avoiding costly urban sprawl and disorderly "leap frogging" of development. It results in the battle of industrial and business development activities between competing jurisdictions, all seeking industry for the metropolitan area but each wanting it to locate within one peculiar set of municipal boundaries.

It is generally true that as cities grow, the population density increases. As density increases, expenses for police and fire protection, parks and sanitation rise disproportionately. A city, for example, must not only provide neighbourhood and district parks, open spaces and sports fields, but also city level parks, like Mayfair Park, which are a new kind of expense and which attract suburbanites as well.

-54-

Cities generally have more "high cost" citizens requiring greater expenditures for social assistance, health services and housing.

Those who can afford it go to the suburbs.

The City also has generally older facilities requiring large expenditures for renovation or replacement, or else higher operating and maintenance costs than the new services in the suburbs. The replacement or renovation is often necessitated by the development of large office - commercial - retail complexes in which the nonresident Edmontonian finds employment.

Conversely, the non-resident Edmontonian does not share in the tax revenue from his place of employment in the same manner that Edmontonians working in the outer industrial areas do not share in the tax revenue from their place of employment. He has no voice in the location of arterial roads, parks development, and other decisions of the City proper which affect such a large part of his life. Nor does he receive at home the level of urban services which his working experience in Edmonton, and the knowledge of Edmonton he gains through the newspaper, radio and television, lead him to expect.

Residents of the urban unit pay more or less taxes for higher or lower service levels than their acquaintances in other parts of the unit. This leads to frustration and a feeling that one part is getting a better deal than another part.

-55-

4. Form Matching Style Urban intrusions into rural municipalities abound in the metropolitan area either in the form of country estates or of major population concentrations. The country estate is a transitional level of density which reflects both urban and rural styles.

These population concentrations confound the geographical organization of rural governments. The rural form of government is particularly poorly equipped to provide urban services to the unincorporated city of Sherwood Park.

The urban Municipal Planning Commission of Edmonton is empowered with subdivision approval authority. The intention of the Legislature in extending this authority to the two major cities in Alberta was to recognize the essential differences between urban and rural subdivision decisions. The rurally dominated Edmonton Regional Planning Commission has subdivision approval authority for the remainder of the urban unit, whether the proposed subdivision is urban or rural in nature.

5. Intergovernmental Provincial or federal-provincial programs that require municipal administration would continue to be fragmented in their implementation. Other governments have trouble coming to grips with this fragmented urban unit. Particularly at the federal level Edmonton is viewed as the centre of this urban unit and policies and programs are directed toward the City proper. Even in such a basic matter as statistics misleading conclusions are drawn by people

-56-

not familiar with the area, and not realizing that the statistical area bears no necessary relationship to the urban unit.

The Province has failed to review and act on the Edmonton urban unit despite repeated municipal representations over the past two decades. To adopt this alternative would be to confirm the inaction of previous governments.

6. Local Autonomy The province delegates responsibilities to municipalities which municipalities are expected to carry out. Other submissions have been directed toward the lack of financial resources to undertake some of these responsibilities. The fragmentation of the urban unit limits the autonomy of the local government to undertake the responsibilities even if the resources were available.

Leadership in these responsibilities is absent for the whole unit. The Province therefore intervenes in an ad hoc manner.

Failure to deal with the local government form for the urban unit may lead to the conclusion that the Province consciously desires to limit the autonomy of the area through continued fragmentation.

In summary this is not an acceptable alternative for Alberta's capitol city.

-57Alternative II - MINOR ADJUSTMENT A minor adjustment of boundaries is considered to be any adjustment which excludes St. Albert and Sherwood Park from participation in the unit and results in a City of less that 170 square miles. An example of such an adjustment would be the expansion of the City boundaries to the proposed ring road alignment.

1. One Unit The urban unit would remain fragmented through the exclusion of the 10% of its population residing in St. Albert and Sherwood Park and the exclusion of the semi-urban country estate style of life.

Planning for the unit would still be fragmented. The political planning area would still be too small and the difficulties in non-contiguous development control would remain.

2. Social & Economic Well-Being Some additional industrial land would be acquired and thus longer range needs partially satisfied for this type of land use as well as for residential and recreational uses. There would remain a shortage of M-3 land and some future industrial development along Highway 16 west would be excluded. In short, there would be a short-term satisfaction of the principle of adequate land for future planning and development.

-58-

3. Equity This alternative provides no solution to the equity principle.

Indeed it would create an imbalance for the Sherwood Park portion of the urban unit by removing the eastern industrial area from its assessment base.

4. Form Matching Style The alternative represents a very limited, partial step to the principle of form of government reflecting style of life. However significant portions of the urban unit would be omitted and the anomoly of Sherwood Park would remain.

5. Intergovernmental Adoption of this alternative could be viewed as a political expedient for the Province. St. Albert would continue as a separate municipal unit. The alternative does not fully satisfy the principles enunciated earlier, but could be an acceptable interim measure for Edmonton. The loss of the assessment base of the eastern industrial area would undoubtedly be protested by the County of Strathcona.

In essence, however, the intergovernmental principle would remain unsatisfied. This alternative if viewed as anything other than a very temporary, interim solution, would constitute an abrogation of Provincial responsibility.

-59-

6.

Local Autonomy The limitation of the urban unit's autonomy through fragmentation of jurisdiction would remain.

In summary adoption of this alternative, while it has significant short-term implications, will not be viewed historically as a creative attempt to deal with a modern urban situation.

Alternative III - MAJOR ADJUSTMENT A major adjustment of boundaries is considered to be any adjustment which includes St. Albert and Sherwood Park and would result in a City approximating 300 square miles.

1.

One Unit This alternative would incorporate the socio-economic urban unit into one local government unit enabling comprehensive planning of the unit.

2.

Social and Economic Well-Being This alternative brings the social and economic well-being of all the residents of the urban unit under one authority. The interests of the whole may be weighed thereby eliminating destructive competition which deprives one part in favour of another.

3.

Equity This alternative spreads the burdens and benefits across the entire urban unit.

-60-

4.

Form Matching Style This alternative includes substantial rural areas within the urban unit. By and large these rural areas are in the path of future projected development and thus the rural intrusion into an urban area would be for interim period although that period will last for several decades.

5.

Intergovernmental This alternative provides the opportunity for a creative provincial action in the style of the "gutsy" decisions which appear in vogue for provincial governments in recent times. The alternative requires provincial action.

The alternative also allows the Boundaries Advisory Committee the opportunity to deal creatively with the boundaries of rural municipalities in north and central Alberta.

6.

Local Autonomy This alternative encourages local autonomy through the creation of a large local government unit. The unit may be too large unless the government form is carefully structured.

In summary, this submission recommends a major adjustment of boundaries within the Edmonton urban unit. This alternative provides the greatest satisfaction of the principles enunciated.

CHAPTER V

THE SELECTED ALTERNATIVE REVIEWED

-62-

1.

BOUNDARY DEFINITION In the previous chapter it was concluded that a major adjustment of boundaries in the Edmonton urban unit is required to satisfy the principles for orderly government enunciated in an earlier chapter. The suggested configuration of these boundaries is indicated on Map. VI.

There are several general principles used to define this urban unity line. Initially it was concluded that regardless of the location of the "ring road" this road should not be used as a boundary line. Pressures for development on either side of this parkway will be intense, caused by the commercial potential of the traffic flow. The abutting property should be under the development control of one authority.

Secondly, it was decided that the use of any road as a boundary line should be avoided if possible in order to provide a line which clearly delineates municipal responsibility. Thus it was decided that wherever possible quarter-section lines or such natural boundaries as watercourses should be used.

The choice of the quarter-section line provides a clear delineation of responsibility for roads. Utility installations in rural areas are ordinarily located in roadside drainage ditches with feeder lines to the consumer's point of use. Thus responsibility for provision of services is clearly defined. School buses, rural mailmen and other government employees will be able to serve both sides of the road they are travelling and duplication of services will be avoided.

-63—

Map 6

A M,

Vt\' •

BM !

I

• iI'

will'ell 0„ rr. illiame::0 fin FirragliMen riar=472. . illINIVIlilitai5

PIP

ig PEI: ilin r i rET-7 1.

1

ME,

Wirtin IC

ICZNIIIIMB5.11: .-.a.-illinT , ;17;0 val

....irrapa.11 IIIIL, iimi" MI gragg1:11 .. . ...._ „ammo ....waolobrvi..:81 . - •40,: . n N"

liM llilialiMirill

..-41.

I'll.

fat 16-0111.

\\ N\ \ \

Legend

mitutini)tholl

`4;\\\ :„ ltruilltnit6ilitittithrmithtmimmtimimtm11111.= THE My OF EDMONTON PLANkING DEPARTMENT

Local Option Area

Boundary

11111111111111 Proposed Expansion '‘NW Proposed Metropolitan \• Agricultural Zone

Boundary

PROPOSED MAJOR EXPANSION BOUNDARY October 19 73

-64-

The quarter-section line may split a farmer's holdings and result in differing circumstances for the parts of his property.

However, many modern farmers presently have scattered holdings in two or more municipalities. Thus no new problems are created.

The general process used to arrive at the recommended configuration was to define the area of anticipated urban development, extend the line approximately two miles outward in all directions and then to make adjustments for such existing features as watercourses, river lot property lines and the City's commitment to the County of Parkland regarding the western boundary.

2. FARMLANDS It is recommended that upon adoption of this boundary, a new municipal zoning category, to be known as Metropolitan Agricultural OlAg), be established.

This zoning is to be applied

to all lands within the urban unity line presently being used in connection with the raising or production of crops, livestock or poultry or in connection with fur production or beekeeping (a) from which the owner derives: (i) an income sufficient to provide a livelihood on a property of 20 acres or more, or (ii) his principal source of income on a property of less than 20 acres; and (b) the owner of which resides on the property or a similar property.

-65It is recommended that the permitted uses of MAg lands include: (1) Agricultural (2) Recreational and associated uses (3) Public utility uses and purely storage sites; and (4) Institutional and that each use under (3) and (4) above be approved by the Council upon recommendation of the Municipal Planning Commission.

It is recommended that two categories ofitlAg zoning be established.

MAg

MAg - 1 would indicate lands which would remain

in perpetuity .

MAg - 2 would indicate lands on which future

urban development might take place. Upon change of use or sale to an unqualified owner MAg - 2 lands would be zoned according to use or intended use.

It is recommended that an amendment to the Municipal Taxation Act be sought so that MAg land becomes assessable and taxable as if it were contained in a municipal district or county until such time as the use changes or the land is sold to a person who does not qualify under the MAg definition.

It is recommended that MAg-1 zoning be applied to all lands within a "belt" to be described generally lying within 1 1/2 to 2 miles inside the new boundary.

This MAg-1 belt would provide clearly

defined parameters of the urban unit. It would also inhibit noncontiguous development adjacent to the boundaries since the non-recoverable cost of extending services across the MAg-1 belt would be prohibitive.

-66-

3. GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION It is recommended that, for a maximum period of ten years, each of the areas of St. Albert and Sherwood Park be guaranteed representation on the City Council by two aldermen and that the Provincial Government initiate appropriate legislation to enable this. It is further recommended that a general revision of ward boundaries in the City of Edmonton within that period may be undertaken provided that recognition is given to representation

of these two areas.

4. ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION For convenience of access to the City Administration, it is recommended that "branch city halls" be established in the town centres of each of the outline plan areas, St. Albert and Sherwood Park.

These offices should provide collection facilities for

utility and tax payments. Staff should also include one or two generalists, whose work experience has provided them with an overview of the entire civic operation, and who would be able to either solve problems or to direct the inquirer to the proper official in the administration. Regional offices of various departments could be located in the facility. Office accommodation for citizen interviews with aldermen should also be provided.

In this manner each area is assured input into both the political and administrative decision-making processes. A more immediate contact with the civic administration is provided than would be possible through the central City Hall which will be more than 10 miles distant for many residents.

-67--

5. INTRA-WARD COMMUNICATION Communication within each ward will pose serious problems as the maximum population potential is achieved. Establishment of the branch city halls as political and administrative sub-centres will at least provide a focus for this communication.

Urbanization has not yet progressed to the point where people are willing to view city aldermen as different kinds of local politicians than councillors in smaller towns. Those councillors know and are known by everyone. They have intimate, detailed knowledge of all the life of the town - from who said what to whom to where the turnoff valve is located for each water line.

It is physically impossible for a city alderman to have such detailed knowledge of his city or even of his ward. There are too many people to know each by name and too many miles of streets to know where each pothole is. The result is that the alderman loses contact with the majority of his people. He must rely on his friends and acquaintances to inform him of local opinion. These may not reflect the spectrum of local opinion accurately either. The people are left to learn about their aldermen through the media or by rumour.

The alderman becomes frustrated because his demanding schedule denies the opportunity to talk with his people. The people become frustrated by their seeming inability to influence their representative on Council.

-68In the age-old politician's dilemma between leadership and representation, representation loses by default. The branch city halls have the potential to deal partially with this situation.

Some form of intra-ward communication and forum of discussion is necessary.

Edmonton has a ready-made instrument to perform such a role in the Area Council. The Area Council is composed of the Community Leagues, churches, service clubs and other interested groups and individuals in a given area. The present purpose of the Area Councils could be defined perhaps as "community development" but they have the potential to provide citizens with a vehicle to express their concerns.

It has been projected that in Alberta "values ascribed to community participation and political participation will likely be steadily upgraded during the next 35 years. Values ascribed to political participation will be upgraded to a slightly greater degree than values ascribed to community participation." (Social Futures)

It is recommended that Area Councils become the vehicle of community and political participation in the new city.

Aldermen in

the new city should develop close informal relationships with the Area Council. Being representative of such a diversity of groups, the Area Council should be able to reflect to the aldermen a good sample of the cross-section of opinion in their wards.

6. ISSUES TO BE FACED The proposed boundary, while it appears logical, is fraught with many contentious issues which must be faced squarely.

-69-

a)

The County of Parkland A major area of existing and potential industrial development will be removed from the County of Parkland.

The large industrial assessment accruing to the County from the Calgary Power developments on Lake Wabamun will soften considerably the effects of this annexation. The adjustment will tidy up the rural-urban interface on the western side of the urban unit.

Edmonton recognizes a commitment to the County of Parkland regarding the westward extension of the City boundaries south of 118th Avenue. The City suggests, however, that the possible creation of a westerly "utility corridor" and contiguous ring road alignment west of the 191st Street road alignment, may lead the County to review that informal agreement.

The transportation and utility corridor offers a natural boundary line for municipal governments. Additionally, an awkward service area between the western boundary and the Stony Plain Indian Reserve will remain.

Thus, the County of Parkland is offered the option of the inclusion of the "local option area" in the new boundaries.

Edmonton covenants not to initiate the inclusion of this area for a period of seven years (until 1981).

-70-

(b) St. Albert In the past, St. Albert has argued strongly that it should remain a separate municipality. As one Councillor put it: "People are willing to pay more taxes to live in St. Albert so they won't be part of the City". St. Albert has also been concerned regarding the retention of a buffer strip between the northwest industrial area and the town.

The strong emphasis placed on planning consideration by the City of Edmonton will ensure that incompatible uses are not allowed in the area with which the Town is concerned.

There is very little local employment in St. Albert relative to the size of the population. It is the archetypal dormitory community. With the exception of the location of their homes, the people of St. Albert are for all intents and purposes Edmontonians. The booming residential growth is indicative of the changing character of the citizenry. The new residents will lack the sentimental attachment to the Town of the older residents.

(c) M.D. of Sturgeon The proposed boundary eliminates a substantial area from the Municipal District of Sturgeon. 10 square miles of this area comprises the odd finger of the municipal district that separates Edmonton and St. Albert. The proposed boundary provides a tidy southern edge to the Municipal District.

-71-

The area in question, however, does contain a significant portion of the Municipal District's assessment and will result in a loss of property tax revenue with serious consequences for the continued viability of this Municipal District as a local government unit. The proposal does leave CFB Namao in the Municipal District. A grant in lieu of taxes will, therefore, accrue to Sturgeon although there will be very limited service demands on the municipality.

d)

County of Strathcona The proposed boundary contains a large area of the present County of Strathcona. About 15% of this is in the southwest area of the city and is in an area which the County has previously proposed be annexed to the City.

The remaining area is on the eastern side of the City and includes close to all the County's industrial assessment together with the "hamlet" of Sherwood Park. The continued viability of this County as a local government unit would also be open to question.

Because it is part of the County School District the Town of Fort Saskatchewan will also be affected by this adjustment.

As with St. Albert, many people in Sherwood Park are concerned with maintaining a separation between their area and encroaching industrial development on the west. Again the strong planning emphasis of the City of Edmonton will protect the area.

Because Sherwood Park is an unincorporated but highly urban

-72hamlet being governed by a rural government, there is concern about the perceived lack of urban services. Many people went to Sherwood Park, not because they didn't want to live in Edmonton, but because they could not afford to buy a house in the City. Others espouse the same kind of separatism as the official position of St. Albert has proposed.

e)

Power and Telephones The proposed boundary could result in the acquisition by Edmonton Power of the Calgary Power facilities serving the area outside the present City boundaries. This would be a subject for Energy Conservation Board consideration and order. The determination of a fairly stable service area would be of valuable assistance in the view of Edmonton Power in the orderly and effective planning and development of electric power service.

'edmonton telephones' would acquire the facilities of Alberta Government Telephones in the areas outside the present City boundaries.

This would include both the existing and non-profitable AGT rural distribution plant and the urban plants at St. Albert and Sherwood Park.

Authority exists under The ACT - Edmonton Telephones Act, 1972, for this acquisition.

The determination of the acquisition price for each of these groups of facilities is likely to be a long and arduous process.

However, it is one that would have to be undertaken under any new boundary proposal.

-73-

f)

Water and Sewer Calgary Power distributes water and collects sewage in Sherwood Park. The acquisition of these facilities would also involve negotiations with the company.

g)

Assessment One of the more contentious issues for the whole new area is likely to be the assessment of real property, particularly in those areas presently part of a county or municipal district. The issue will centre around the assessment of land and the debate will be similar to that which surrounded the Edmonton general assessment for 1973.

However, the assessment procedures of the City of Edmonton take account of disadvantages of location or surrounding environment and, therefore, all properties in the area will receive equal treatment by being assessod under the same criteria.

Bona fide farmland would not be affected seriously if the MAg zoning proposal is adopted.

h)

Fire and Police The boundary extension would require the termination of the existing contracts with the R.C.M.P. for police protection to the new areas. Some 65-85 additional staff would be required in the Edmonton Police Department to serve the area plus the relevant new vehicles and equipment.

-74-

About 50 additional firefighters would be required immediately to provide fire protection to the refinery area, Sherwood Park and St. Albert. In light of the situation which developed with the former Griesbach firefighters, it is recommended that provision be made for the assimilation into the Edmonton Fire Department of any full-time firefighters presently serving the new area. Similar arrangements should be made for other municipal employees affected by the boundary adjustment.

i)

Transportation One of the major difficulties for the City of Edmonton created by the outer population concentrations is the necessity to provide and maintain expensive roadway facilities from the City boundaries to the City centre. As noted elsewhere, many of these facilities exist primarily for the benefit of nonresident Edmontonians. It is estimated that in 1972 Edmonton spent $105,000 maintaining commuter roadways from the city limits to the edge of the built-up area of the City.

The new boundary will allow the non-residents a voice in the location of these roadway facilities and an opportunity to share in their cost. The Province presently recognizes that such major roadways provide benefits for people outside the site municipality by ccntributing 75% of the cost of construction. While the new residents will not pay that portion of the city share, they will at least make some contribution.

-75-

In addition, the extension of the services of the Edmonton Transit system has the potential of changing the commuter pattern.

Even operating at a substantial deficit, a regular commuter transit system has the potential to save a great deal of expenditure on freeways, arterial roads and city centre parking. The operation of "express" busses to and from St. Albert and Sherwood Park at short intervals during rush hours and regular intervals thereafter, with convenient transfer provisions, would probably result in a significant decrease in the number of one person cars now commuting. Convenient feeder routes internal to Sherwood Park and St. Albert would also assist.

Last, but very important, there are highly significant transportation planning benefits to the unified authority for this service by providing a planning framework. City of Edmonton priorities have been disrupted too often in the past by Provincial roadway construction intended to serve the surrounding communities. This alone will benefit both the present and the new residents and industries.

j)

Finances The financial implications of this proposed new City are difficult to project. Re-assessment would be required in St. Albert and Sherwood Park, particularly, and the other developed portions of the new areas. Re-assessment would be required in order to bring the assessments in the new areas into line with assessments in Edmonton.

-76-

The complicated financial implications of this boundary recommendation require full, detailed and objective study. The City has not undertaken such a study prior to approval in principle of a boundary adjustment alternative because of the magnitude of the task.

The Government of Alberta should undertake such a study.

Because of its scope, its intermunicipal implications and the necessity of a report which cannot be claimed to be biased by one or another of the affected municipalities, the Province must undertake this responsibility immediately.

CHAP TER VI

RECOMMENDED ACTION

-78-

1. It is recommended that a major adjustment of municipal boundaries in the capitol city area be undertaken by the Provincial Government.

While some minor modifications may be

required, it is recommended that the major adjustment follow the concept proposed in this submission.

It is the contention of this submission that the best form for the future of this City is a single municipality, emcompassing the whole urban unit, with a single local government which includes in its organization localized focii of citizen interest. This is the form which has evolved as the position of the City of Edmonton since the McNally Commission two decades ago.

2. It is recommended that The Municipal Taxation Act be amended to permit rural assessment and taxation provisions for lands within an urban municipality zoned "Metropolitan Agricultural" (MAg).

Legitimate concerns are raised regarding property taxation by bona fide farmers included within the bounds of an urban municipality. Section 25 of The Municipal Taxation Act exempts farm buildings from assessment and taxation but Section 2.11 defines farm buildings as being located "outside a city, town, new town, village or summer village."

-79-

Without concurring in the principle of this exemption, it is submitted that bona fide farm lands and buildings should not be assessed differently simply because a municipal boundary is adjusted. Assurance that only bona fide farm properties are so treated is provided in the definition of the zone.

3. It is recommended that the City of Edmonton provide for a "Metropolitan Agricultural" (MAg) zoning category to be applied to all bona fide farmlands within its boundaries. It is further recommended that the regional plan be amended accordingly.

The definition of bona fide farmlands (see page 64) coincides with that set forth in The Municipal Taxation Act. Permitted uses under this zoning would include agricultural; recreational and associated uses. Public utility uses and purely storage sites, and institutional uses could be permitted by Council upon the recommendation of the Municipal Planning Commission.

4. It is recommended that two classes of MAg zoning be established.

MAg-1 would indicate lands which would remain MAg in perpetuity.

MAg-2 would indicate lands on which future urban development might take place. Upon change of use or sale to an unqualified owner, MAg-2 lands would be zoned according to use or intended use.

-80-

5. /t is recommended that MAg-1 zoning be applied by the City to a "green-belt" area, approximately 1.5 miles wide, within but on the perimeter of the new boundary except adjacent to the "local option area" and south of CFB Namao.

This would provide a visible separation

between the central and surrounding municipalities and confirms existing use.

It also provides the opportunity to develop the so-called ring road as a parkway and provides a suitable location for a utility corridor around the City. Several areas of extremely attractive recreation potential would be included in the belt, e.g. Big Lake.

E. It is recommended that the County ofTarkland be given the option of the inclusion or exclusion of the "local option area".

Edmonton

covenants not to initiate its inclusion prior to 1981.

As discussed in the previous chapter, Edmonton has not forgotten the informal understanding that 191st Street could represent the ultimate western boundary of the City. This recommendation allows the County the option of reviewing its eastern boundary, particularly with regard to the servicing of the finger of land between 191st Street and the Reserve.

-81-

7. It is recommended that for a maximum period of ten years, the Town of St. Albert and the Hamlet of Sherwood Park be guaranteed representation on the Council of the new City by two aldermen each, and that the Provincial Government initiate appropriate legislation to enable this.

This ensures a voice for St. Albert and Sherwood Park in the political decision-making process of the new City. A revision of ward boundaries is not foreseen at the present time and thus legislative amendment will be required to allow differing numbers of aldermen in different wards.

It is possible that the City will undertake a general revision of ward boundaries within the decade. Therefore, it is recommended that a general revision of ward boundaries in the City of Edmonton within that period may be undertaken provided that recognition is given to the representation of these two areas.

8. For convenience of access to the City Administration, it is recommended that "branch city halls" be established in the town centres of each of the outline plan areas, St. Albert and Sherwood Park.

This will ensure a voice for each area in the administrative decision-making process of the new city.

-82--

9. It is recommended that Area Councils become the vehicle of community and political participation in the new City.

This will facilitate communication between citizens and aldermen in the new City, as explained in Chapter V.

10. It is recommended that provision be made for the assimilation into the Edmonton Fire Department of any full-time firefighters presently serving the new area. Similar arrangements should be made for other municipal employees affected by the boundary adjustments.

This will ensure that no person becomes unemployed as a result of implementation of the boundary adjustment. It will also ensure the orderly transfer of such civic servants to the work force of the new City.

11. It is recoirirnended that all citizens affected by this proposal, both within and without the present City, be afforded the opportunity to comment on it.

CHAPTER VII

PROTECTING THE NEW CITY

"There is great appeal to the idea that the optimal population of any given place is slightly less than that which it had the day before tomorrow - but the population problem is really a problem of distribution and how we use our resources."

- A. Pascal

-84-

"New cities", "new towns", "satellite communities" are titles used interchangeably for the concept under discussion in this chapter and which will be called satellite communities in this brief.

The concept provides a means of protecting the urban-rural interface from shadow development.

A satellite coimunity may be defined as either a completely new city created in a virgin rural area or an industrial and residential development complex built around or near an existing small town in a rural area.

It should be noted at the outset that new towns are a long-term proposition and no solution to a crisis requiring immediate solutions.

They are an essential component of a package of solutions to existing problems.

What size they should be is debatable - the British say 25,000, the Dutch and others 250-500,000. However, the travelling distance from megalopolitan centres is important and should be within the 1 hour commuting range with good transportation facilities available.

For the purpose of its 1969 study, the Alberta Housing Corporation selected the option of developing satellite communities on the edge of existing towns or villages. This option was selected because the Corporation's research indicated that many small centres surrounding Calgary and Edmonton had the basic facilities available to service a

-85-

number of properties far in excess of the existing number of built-up properties. In addition, many of these communities had vacant, serviced lots available at a time when such were growing scarce in the cities.

The Corporation considered a one-hour commuting time or 50 miles distance from the City as the maximum acceptable. Paved roads and easy and cheap transportation to the city were also considered essential.

For communities meeting these qualifications, vacant serviced lots, utilities, school, shopping and recreation facilities were also considered.

Industrial potential was also deemed important. Many "bedroom" communities have encountered financial difficulties when they lacked industrial assessment.

The report finally recommended the recognition of the Edmonton area communities indicated in the following table as those with the potential to become primary satellite communities.

PRIMARY SATELLITE COMMUNITIES - 1969 COMMUNITY

COMMUTING DISTANCE

Leduc (T)

25

32

Stony Plain (T)

15

31

Wetaskiwin (C)

42

29

Devon (T)

20

27

Spruce Grove (V)

10

27

Calmar (T)

26

26

Wabamun (H)

35

21

C = City

H = Hamlet

T = Town

COMMUNITY EVALUATION FIGURE*

V = Village

-86--

*An evaluation of roads, population trend, local employment opportunities, number of commuters, commuting service, water and sewer, educational facilities, shopping facilities and general impression.

Since the study in 1969, Spruce Grove has gained new life in significant quantity and has been incorporated as a town. Leduc has developed as a satellite community also in recent years. Fort Saskatchewan, excluded from the A.H.C. study because at the time its lot prices were approaching those in Edmonton, is a primary satellite on the North.

It is recommended that development outside the new boundaries described in this report be directed towards such satellite communities.

Successful implementation of this concept requires the establishment of a green belt - perhaps ten miles wide - around the new boundaries.

The green-belt area would continue to be used for agricultural or other appropriate purposes.

Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Leduc and Fort Saskatchewan are all situated on high-speed highways and railway lines. In the immediate future commuter travel by car pool or bus is easily possible. When sufficient demand has been generated, the proposed Edmonton rapid transit system may be easily extended along the existing rail lines.

-87-

Devon is disadvantaged by a lack of rail transportation. However, good highways extended north and south. A "park and ride" system could easily be established at the Devon corner, first for commuter busses and then for rapid transit.

The green-belt area must be limited, by definition, to extremely low density uses e.g. agriculture, recreational uses, etc. Because the area crosses municipal boundaries, the Province must take the initiative in designating the area and prohibiting by legislation anything but an appropriate use.

This, no doubt, will be a difficult decision for the Province to take. The Counties of Leduc, Strathcona and Parkland and the Municipal District of Sturgeon may object to a provincial intrusion into their area of responsibility, i.e. development decisions. The owners in the area may claim expropriation by zoning or denial of development rights. However, the City must not be forced to sprawl endlessly into the hinterland in order to provide development potential to private landowners. The City will do its part with MAg-1 zoning. The Province must take responsibility for ensuring that the City's best efforts are not compounded by other jurisdictions on its borders.

The green belt will ensure adequate provision of the produce of the nursery trade, dairy farms and recreational facilities within easy reach of city and satellite residents alike. The enforced open space will put a defined halt to urban sprawl in all directions. In

-88-

a sense, this concept simply confirms in law the present situation and aids in ensuring environmental stability.

If, as one author has put it, "irrationality is epidemic in urban America today, the satellite community offers the opportunity to provide badly-needed examples of order in the human scale". Population density is spread in orderly clusters where people may gather to live their lives as they wish.

The ultimate consequences of the greenbelt-satellite town concept are significant for more than the City itself. The development labour pools in the satellites, coupled with the probability of lower land prices, is likely eventually to attract industries which do not require the immediacy of contact with suppliers and customers.

The proximity and easy accessibility of the metropolitan market would encourage this decentralization process. Farther into the future, as satellites of the satellites develop, the industrial development will further fan out from the city centre.

These decentralized industries will be attached to the satellite communities and will, either through location within the satellite boundaries or through tax sharing agreements, contribute their fair share to the municipality.

-89-

REFERENCE S

Adamson, A., Report Prepared for the County of Strathcona in the Province of Alberta Relating to an Annexation Petition by the City of Edmonton (1963)

Bryan, Foote, et al, Presentation on Behalf of the Town of Jasper Place to the Local Authorities Board. (1963)

Cohen, H., "Urban Disgovernance", City, March/April, 1971 (National Urban Coalition, Washington)

Fletcher, R.R. & Badger, D.D., Socio-Economic Considerations in Developing a New City in a Rural Area (A contributed paper for the Annual Meeting of the Western Regional Science Association, Feb. 26-28, 1971.

Journal Article 2196 of the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, Stillwater, 74074)

Gertler, L.O. ed., Regional Development (Ontario Department of Economics and Development, 1963)

Hanson, E.J., Local Government in Alberta (McClelland & Stewart, 1956)

Hanson, E.J., The Potential Unification of the Edmonton Metropolitan Area - A Fiscal Study (City of Edmonton, 1968)

Harries, Hu & Assoc., The Incorporation of Sherwood Park: Background and Financial Analysis (County of Strathcona, 1972)

-90-

Miles S., Report of Stage Three: The Seminar - Conference, Toronto, August 6 - 16, 1967 (Bureau of Municipal Research, Toronto, 1968)

Pascal, A., "Where Will All The People Go and How Much Will They Dump When They Get There?

Western Regional Science Association 1971 Banquet Address (unpublished)

Plunkett, T.J., "Urban Canada, REgional Reform and the Municipal Managerial Dilemma" Paper delivered at the 67th Annual Convention, Municipal Finance Officers Association, Kansas City, June 5, 1973.

Roper, Mayor E.E., Submission on Behalf of the City of Edmonton to the Local Authorities Board (1963)

A Position Paper (Government of Alberta, 1970)

A Satellite Community Study for the Edmonton and Calgary Areas (Alberta Housing Corporation, 1969)

Industrial Land Inventory: Metropolitan Area (Edmonton Regional Planning Commission, 1972)

Local Authorities Board Decision and Order No. 1234 (1964)

Municipal Statistics for the years end December 31, 1967, and 1971 (Alberta Department of Municipal Affairs, 1969 and 1973)

Preliminary Regional Plan Metropolitan Part: Regulations (Edmonton Regional Planning Commission, 1972)

-91-

PROMUS*: The Design of an Urban Management System (Decision Sciences Corporation, Jenkinstown, p.iv Pennsylvania) *PROMUS is the Provincial-Municipal Simulator, a computerbased financial planning and urban management system being developed by Decision Sciences Corporation and P.S. Ross & Partners for the City of Toronto and the Ontario Department of Municipal Affairs.

Report of the Royal Commission on the Metropolitan Development of Calgary and Edmonton (Government of Alberta, 1956)

"Satellite Towns under Study", Engineering and Contract Record, May, 1973

Submission to the Special Committee on the Power Commission Act (City of Edmonton, 1968)