LDA22-0453 & LDA23-0184 Marquis Town Centre Rezoning and Plan Amendments

The proposed modification to the Marquis Neighborhood Structured plan is not in alignment with the Horse Hill Area Structured Plan, and therefore cannot proceed unless the Area Structured Plan if first revised. That cannot happen without proper public consultation - which in this area means a well advertised open house preferably hosted at Horse Hill School.

While the amendment has some positive changes (such as fully isolating the town centre without dissection by major arteries), the change from future LRT to future mass transit is not appropriate. It is entirely inappropriate to plan an area housing over 100,000 citizens without the natural extension of the LRT to service this area. I recognize that the City may not be ready to extend the LRT to Marquis for years, but the right of way must be set aside for when it is eventually needed, and certainly should not include a 90 degree turn!

Please schedule an open house ASAP. It is not appropriate to proceed to a public hearing until that happens.

This is prime agricultural land. The city of Edmonton should not expand in that direction. The time is to infill and not expand services further out. Out taxes are already far too high and the city wants to raise them by 7%. As a senior on a fixed income this raise will restrict my standard of living as it will for many seniors. City Council must rein in spending. Seniors do not have the opportunity to raise their income; I imagine city councillors and the mayor do so the increase will not impact them. Cut back on infrastructure at this time.

Combine the commercial area and the higher density areas together. Put the shops where the people are and build upwards. Commercial area I believe should be mixed use medium density with small portion of commercial only. We need to change the way we build out suburbs.