Project Highlights:

• The “Sturgeon Valley Special Study Area” (SVSSA) directs development within an area that borders the City of Edmonton to the south, and the City of St. Albert to the south west, and the Canadian Forces Base-Edmonton to the east.  Known as Sturgeon Valley, this area is comprised of almost 20 sections (12,501 acres) governed by the Sturgeon Valley Area Structure Plan (AS)) adopted in 1999. V3 was retained to align planning in the Sturgeon Valley with the over-arching Edmonton Metropolitan Region Growth Plan and the SVSSA. To accomplish this, V3 worked with County administration to develop the new ASP, as well as updating the existing ASP to reflect the changes and new policy directions.
• Key Challenges: working with three Municipalities and various stakeholders that have different perspectives. The development of the special policy area was also a highly political process. Now that the policy is adopted, key challenges relate to land owners who desire quick development, however, the population projections indicate that the build-out could occur over 100 years or longer.
• Solutions: a naturalized stormwater detention basin located on the south side of the Lakewood Estates subdivision which is south of the intersection of Superior Drive and Erie Drive. Situated within the Lily Cache Slough and positioned between the Haley Meadows naturalized detention basin to the west, Mather South Preserve to the east, and O’Hara Woods State Nature Preserve to the south this site is 15.4 acres and has 6.5 acres of open water with an emergent wetland shoreline surrounded by 8.9 acres of wet-mesic prairie.
• Unusual Conditions: when dealing with larger cities, having the key people at the table is critical to success. Unfortunately, an administration staff member is representing the City. This often involved back channel communication to ensure information was being communicated accurately.