Planned 171-unit apartment building in Edmonton’s Belmont gets pushback from neighbours

Some residents of northeast Edmonton’s Belmont neighbourhood are pushing back against a planned large housing development.

They say the 171-unit apartment building is too big for the area.

“One-hundred and seventy-one units parked right in the middle, in the heart of a tiny residential neighbourhood makes no sense,” said Colleen Fecteau.

Fecteau is one of about a dozen residents in Belmont who spoke to CityNews about their concerns.

“We recognize that housing is important, and that we’re short of housing in the province. But could it not be small? This is a little neighbourhood.”

The plan is for a five-storey apartment building with a mix of one- to four-bedroom units. About 65 per cent of the rentals will be considered affordable or below market rates.

The building would be built on public land provided by the City of Edmonton with funding from different levels of government. It would be run by social housing provider Civida.

“The proposed development in Belmont was identified and awarded through the City of Edmonton’s surplus school sites program, and is being planned within existing zoning and land-use permissions,” a spokesperson for Civida told CityNews in a statement. “The project is proceeding through established City processes and requirements, including technical review and oversight related to transportation access, servicing, traffic impacts, and safety.

“These considerations will continue to be assessed as part of permitting and design refinement as the project moves forward.”

But some neighbours have concerns.

“Our concerns are for traffic, therefore safety, therefore safety of the children as they’re walking to and from school,” said Jackie Lane.

“It just feels like they are pushing this through because they need to get housing.”

For Tyson Delhomeau, he’s thinking of comfort and privacy.

“I don’t want to be watched in my hot tub in the back – the third, fourth, fifth floor with full view of my backyard when we’re in there,” Delhomeau said.

Fecteau says another concern is that Belmont is a “very old neighbourhood.”

“Is the infrastructure able to handle 171 new homes for sewer, for water, for that kind of thing?” she asked.

But city councillor Michael Janz called Belmont an “absolute incredible location,” with the Clareview Recreation Centre and an LRT station just a short walk away.

The councillor for Ward papastew adds that affordable housing is needed, and Belmont is a good spot for it.

“If the community were pressuring us to reopen it, I would actually be pushing for a much higher and larger development,” Janz said.

He hopes, like with similar developments in the past, the neighbourhood will ultimately be welcoming.

“People understand that affordable housing is needed. And right now, it’s an uncertain thing for the community, but very soon these people are going to become your neighbours.

“Once actual human hearts start moving into these buildings, the fear and uncertainty dissipates.”

Civida says it’s committed to hearing concerns from residents as the project advances.

“Additional opportunities for neighbourhood residents to engage and learn more are planned as the development progresses,” the spokesperson said. “Our focus is on delivering much-needed housing in a way that aligns with City planning and contributes positively to the neighbourhood over the long term, including a mix of homes that support affordability and long-term community stability.”