Plans to develop land across from Servus Place in St. Albert have been put on hold indefinitely and the developer is now under fire for comments he made about teenagers in the neighbourhood.
Conditions on Canterra Development’s plan to build on a vacant field across from Servus Place in the Kingswood neighbourhood included donating 10 per cent of the land to the community.
However, now that the city wants to build a high school in that space, St. Albert’s mayor says the developer is refusing to move forward with the plan.
Mayor Nolan Crouse says the developer told him on several occasions that “teenagers don’t make good neighbours.”
“What he has stated to me personally is he will hold off forever and not do anymore development so from his point of view that’s disappointing,” Crouse said.
“From our point of view we’d like to have a high school… he’s taken a position as long as there’s any potential of a high school, he’s not going to further the development.”
Council has now passed a motion to limit any further development on the land by that particular developer.
“It's unacceptable for society to say that teenagers are wrong in our community, what does that mean? Go somewhere else when you're a teenager and move back here when you can afford to buy a home? That’s garbage,” Crouse said.
The developer refused CTV Edmonton’s request for an interview – saying he has no issue with having teenagers as neighbours, however Crouse says those comments were made to him and council on several occasions during private meetings.
With files from Amanda Anderson
