Vic Moran - Comments at Saunders Lake Area – 2nd Public Hearing - March 14, 2017

MARCH 14, 2017 LEDUC CITY / LEDUC COUNTY INTERMUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

There have been some very positive changes in the language of the IDP since last October.

There are, however, three specific sections that could be clarified and more prescriptive.

In section 4.6.2.18, it is unfortunate that the City and County cannot quite bring themselves to come right out and say that they will protect and maintain the natural connectivity between Saunders and Telford Lakes. Instead they opt to "jointly examine solutions", whatever that means. Interestingly both the City and County have been advised by their respective consultants to maintain the wildlife corridor during their park master planning processes.

The updated figure 10 in the IDP clearly shows that there are uninterrupted and dedicated Open Space and Greenways between the two lakes. Yet the City and County remain half pregnant.

There has been a consistent replacement of "should" with "shall", until we get to section 5.2.2., and the protection of natural assets and features. I'm hoping that this is an oversight, because as we all know, should is a requirement to do nothing.

Finally, Section 5.11.2 recognizes the impact of noise, light, air and water pollution on adjacent natural areas, lakes and natural habitats; and requires that Area Structure Plans demonstrate how they will minimize these impacts. In reading the Area Structure Plan for Saunders Lake I find in section 5.3 that "Land uses and development standards shall ensure that no light pollution, noise, odour, dust or vibration is experienced beyond the edges of any individual Saunders Lake Transition site." Even with my college education I have a hard time imagining such a big promise. No means zero and zero means an unventilated, windowless building without site lighting and no one coming and going, not even in moccasins. I'm not sure what is expected from the IDP, but maybe some guidelines referencing decibels, lumens or LEED and ASHRAE standards are in order. As much as I would like to see the Saunders Lake transition space as rewilded green space, I don't think that this is what the developer intends, and yet it would be the only way to satisfy a zero pollution scenario. Planting a single tree would reduce noise, light, air and water pollution – how many trees would it take to minimize the impact of all the pollutants from a given site? The ask is vague and subjective, the response was unrealistic.