Vic Moran-Notes re: 2nd presentation at Public Hearing on Proposed Bylaw-Proposed Northwest Saunders Lake ASP, Oct. 25, 2016

Re: NORTHWEST SAUNDERS LAKE

AREA STRUCTURE PLAN

A bylaw is a law, and as such is a community rule recognized as prescribing or prohibiting certain actions. The actions prescribed in the Northwest Saunders Lake Area Structure plan need to be precise, reasonable and unambiguous – this is simply good law.

All legislation should reflect the The proposed Northwest Saunders Lake Area Structure Plan falls short of meeting any environmental expectations, especially since Saunders Lake is acknowledged in the ASP as a Regionally Environmentally Sensitive Area.

How can I say this with such certainty, you might ask?

Well, I imagine a poll being conducted by the Leduc Rep, in which the question is:

· Should the County of Leduc's elected officials exercise their option to increase the width of the proposed Natural Area / Open Space around Saunders Lake, at no additional cost to the tax payer?

The response would be a clear and resounding yes. Or, how about this question:

· Should the County of Leduc's elected officials pass legislation to reduce the toxicity and volume of stormwater entering the fragile habit of the American White Pelican on Saunders Lake, again at no additional cost to the tax payer?

Or even:

· Should the developer be required to install a rewilded nature trail through the Natural Area running parallel with Saunders Lake as part of the development?

Since the answer to these questions is obviously yes, the short comings of this document need to be addressed.

Leduc County has the opportunity to increase the width of the natural area by applying the 10% Municipal Reserve that is available under the Municipal Government Act. In the proposed Area Structure Plan Stantec states that the County of Leduc will take cash in lieu of the land: you can refer to the last sentence of 1.3.1., also, the end of the first paragraph in Section 5.0 and the fine print at the bottom of table 1 in Section 5. In fairness to Stantec, they do contradict themselves by saying in 5.1.11. that the decision to take cash in lieu of land lies with the County. They then go on and complete the ASP as if taking the cash was a fait accompli. To put the area of this Municipal Reserve in context, the 10% would increase the Natural Area / Open Space by over 50%, and would cover the land currently referred to as the Saunders Lake Transition.

The east side of the proposed roadway would be a convenient edge to a rewilded natural area.

Since there is contradiction regarding this matter, we are not sure that if the County approves this document, are they approving Stantec's assumption that they will take the cash or reaffirming that they are yet to make a decision in this matter?

The County could also request a treed and landscaped berm at the east edge of the development, as is allowed for in the Leduc County, Land Use Bylaw 6.5.11.

It is worth noting that the proposed Natural Area / Open Space is made up of "steep slopes" as stated by Stantec in the middle of the third paragraph of Section 5.1. This would make neither an ideal or safe place for a walking trail. The Natural Area / Open Space needs to be expanded west to accommodate a walking trail or multi-way.

In Section 2.5 the Inter-municipal Development Plan is referenced as a statutory document - that the "Area Structure Plan has been prepared in accordance with". There is, however, no execution of Inter-municipal Development Plan Item 4.6.2.5. , which states that "the conceptual networks, locations and alignments of trails within the IDP area shall be included in future Area Structure Plans". Confusion is compounded when we look at the last sentence in the first paragraph of Section 5.1 Natural Area / Open Space where it states, "The Inter-municipal Development Plan also identifies regional trail connections between Saunders Lake and Telford Lake recreational areas, of which trails within this plan area will form a part". So, the ASP recognizes the IDP, and even quotes from the IDP, but fails to put in the ASP what is required by the IDP – namely a walking trail. Why is that? This proposed ASP is deficient.

Item 4.2 of the North Saunders Lake Servicing Report states that "discharge into Saunders Lake is not to exceed pre-development flow rates". This statement is consistent with the Alberta Governments, Water Act, Stormwater Management guidelines. It is interesting to note that under ASP Section 3.3 Natural Features, "Intermittent overland flow of stormwater enters Saunders Lake from within the plan area, but forms no permanent watercourses". This means that the normal pre-development flow rate is zero and consequentially the discharge rate into Saunders Lake is not to exceed zero, or at least until such a time as cultivated agricultural land would be saturated. How does this work for the stormwater that is being diverted from the west side of the Nisku spine road? Stormwater that would never have found its way to Saunders Lake.

In Section 5.3.3 apparently the "lands with Saunders Lake Transition designation" will be held to a higher level of wishful thinking than the remainder of the development, as these lands are "encouraged" to use "Low Impact Development Stormwater Management Strategies". Notwithstanding the logical determination that a zero flow rate of stormwater can enter Saunders Lake, the reduction of stormwater at source needs to be a legislated requirement for this entire stormwater system, including the stormwater generated from the City of Leduc's North Industrial development.

Section 7.2 states that "the ultimate, (meaning last, final, beyond which no other exists or is possible), receiving body for stormwater from the plan area is Saunders Lake". This can be taken as an admission that wishful thinking has no place in an ASP and that no stormwater is expected to be diverted. The opening paragraph goes on to say that "the majority of the plan area naturally drains towards the lake", this is somewhat misleading. Although the ground slopes towards the lake, the majority of rainwater that currently falls on the plan area evaporates followed by a similar percentage of vertical seepage into the ground. From the information that I have researched the amount of all rainfall that will enter Saunders Lake will likely go from approximately 25% to 90%, and the quality will drastically diminish. This is the difference between rain falling on porous farmland and falling on developed hard surfaces such as asphalt, concrete and metal roofs. For this development the increased amount of stormwater is in the order of hundreds of millions of gallons a year. It is possible to absorb rainfall throughout the development using the aforementioned "Low Impact Development Stormwater Strategies", which are also known as "Source Control Practices" and commonly deployed in LEED certified projects, which coincidentally are also "encouraged" in Section 5.3.3., but not noted as required.

In Section 5.1 it is stated that the intention of the Natural Area / Open Space is to "conserve wildlife habitat and movement corridors" and yet within this area they intend to build two boat launches. Boating is contrary to conserving wildlife habitat on the lake, as it scares adult birds off of the nest and leaves their eggs available for predators, it can also stress waterfowl, for example a pelican chick cannot fly until 10 weeks of age and live in groups called crèches from 3 to 10 weeks of age making them extremely vulnerable to predation.

It is clear that the threat to wildlife on Saunders Lake is real and accordingly we request that the County of Leduc require that an Environmental Impact Assessment report be completed and submitted as part of this ASP. The completion of this report is an option that exists under item 9.2.8 of the Leduc County Land Use Bylaw, which is specifically written to address environmentally sensitive areas. This information is necessary for the elected officials of Leduc County to make an informed decision regarding the approval of an ASP and to negate the possibility of unintended consequences.

In summary this Area Structure Plan is not ready for approval until the contradictions are resolved, the requirements of the IDP are met and the County of Leduc's elected officials have had the opportunity to reflect on the legacy they will leaving for following generations. We understand that the City of Leduc is quite challenged in completing a trail around Telford Lake, do not saddle our children with the same burden by duplicating this challenge. Now is the time to act with definitive and actionable legislation.