The Proposed Sage Housing Development in Bruderheim

The proposed location, 135 acres located north of the Walker School, sure is a wet place, a flood plain and bad place for the construction of a residential subdivision intended to house 1,300 people.

Here is a satellite photo of the location for the proposed development.

Click on the image to be able to see it at full size.

A version of that image was on display during the work session of the representatives of the T|six urbanists that they held in the Walker School, although they called it an aerial photo and did not credit the copyright holder: Google.

That is a minor concern that the T|six urbanists, it is hoped, will not cause to happen again.  Other than that, the final presentation made by the T|six urbanists last night (July 18, 2008) was a slick sales job for a visually very appealing proposal - from the viewpoint of ergonomics, architecture and urban planning.  However, into every life a little rain must fall (pun intended, and that is what the major subject of interest in rest of this article is all about).

This week's work by the T|six urbanists resulted in some concerns that came to light through the questions asked by the audience.  Solutions for some of those concerns will perhaps emerge as time goes by in pushing the development along, but some of those concerns will be difficult and extremely expensive to address.

There are no intentions to create solutions for some relatively minor concerns.  Those concerns are consequences of the basic design for the development.

Here are some of the concerns that were brought up and addressed last night.

1. Will the buildings in the Sage subdivision have basements? 
   
   The answer to that was: No! The groundwater table is too high.  It will not be practical to provide basements.
2. You propose a large number of pre-manufactured homes.  Will those homes have proper foundations?
   
   The answer to that was: Yes.
   
   My note: That is not a matter of choice.  It appears that Bruderheim now has a bylaw that dictates that any sort of mobile or pre-manufactured home brought into town must be placed on solid, permanent foundations.
3. How much higher is the population density to be in the new development, relative to the population density in the rest of Bruderheim?
   
   The first reaction to that question was that the lots had to be smaller because to provide the relatively low density that prevails in the remainder of Bruderheim would require that anyone moving into the Sage subdivision would have to be a millionaire to be able to afford a home.
   
   There was some discussion as to how many housing units would be constructed in the Sage subdivision (somewhat more than 700 units) but no answer came forth as to what the relative population density will be.  The end result of the discussion was that roughly 1,300 new residents are expected to live within the 135 acres of the proposed Sage subdivision.  Using information not supplied by the T|six urbanists, namely that the remaining area of Bruderheim consists of roughly 640 acres of land presently houses 1,300 people, it can be expected that the Sage subdivision will have a population density that is at least four times higher than that in the other developed areas of Bruderheim.
4. Will the allotment of parking spaces be sufficient?
   
   The roads in the residential areas will be narrower, as they will be in any of the proposed commercial districts.  The sketches that were presented were very pleasing, artistically, but they made it quite clear that parking space will be scarce.
   
   The streets are to be narrow, and even public areas appeared to provide space only for parallel parking.  The T|six urbanists explained that there will be one-way streets and that, with one parking space in the back of each housing unit, there will be on average enough room for perhaps one visitor-parking space in the front.
   
   As an aside, during the opening parts of the presentation the T|six urbanists mentioned that the design for the new development will evolve while keeping in mind that perhaps we will all soon do much less driving than we have become accustomed to. 
   
   In the time and community during which I grew up, cars were rare.  We all walked a lot and used public transportation.  It was a pretty good way to live, because the communities then were designed for that.
   
   The nicest thing about it all was that we all got to know one another in the neighbourhood.  It was common for people to talk to one another.  Moreover, in all of my life without a car I saw only one single case of road rage by a pedestrian.  I will tell you that story when we meet and talk to one another.
5. Doug Maschmeyer asked whether the T|six urbanists had walked-through all of the property and what they intend to do about the many springs that exist in that [lowest] portion of Bruderheim.
   
   The answer to that was, yes, they had walked around on the property and checked things out, and that the problem of the water on the property would be solved by constructing drainage ditches (part of their urban-design landscaping - those ditches would run into an area in the NW of the property where the water will then simply seep away [into water-saturated ground that is so wet that it will not permit the construction of basements --WHS].
   
   Doug pointed out that he would still like to know what they intend to do about those springs, and pointed out that it was not practical to build either homes or roads or anything else on top of them.
   
   The T|six urbanists conceded the point to Doug, who was born here, grew up here quite a few years ago and lived here all of his life.  They said that they would do some more testing.
   
   Doug suggested as well that the nature and circumstances of the creek that runs through Bruderheim from the south to the north, right into the proposed Sage development should be looked into.  That creek carries water all the way from Elk Island Park and drains much of the water off the land between there and Bruderheim.  It was not made too clear what the T|six urbanists intend to do about that.
6. Will the sumps for the drainage ditches be enough to keep the Sage development dry?
   
   Although I first suggested that with the best of their intentions, it appears that the power of Mother Nature is being underestimated, the T|six urbanists took offence to that question and once more summarized all of the things and more modern designs that they had in mind for their intention to herd Mother Nature.
   
   This is the problem, a real problem and not just a theoretical one: The land for the proposed development is quite literally the low spot of Bruderheim.  It is in effect the location of a seasonal run-off that drains through some very flat and shallow land, eventually runs into Beaverhill Creek and then into the North Saskatchewan River.  That means that in years or at any time when there is above normal melt- or rain-water run-off, the creek that Doug Maschmeyer spoke of will become a stream that carries an enormous amount of water.  I have seen that happen on a number of occasions, especially in the Spring, but also when there was very heavy rain.
   
   We must never forget that our area here has frequent extremes of weather, as most of Alberta does.
   
   The creek mentioned by Doug is not the only one that drains into the area proposed for the Sage development.  Another important creek is the one that drains most of the land between here and the junction of HWY 15 and HWY 637, and south from that junction towards Elk Island Park.  That creek frequently produces a lake on the section of land intended to be used for the HAZCO sulphur-forming and shipping facility, floods much of the land of the farm NW from the curve in HWY 45, two miles east from Bruderheim, and helped, along with the creek mentioned by Doug Maschmeyer, to fairly often produce a lake that put a very substantial portion of the area proposed for the Sage development under water; water that has at times been several meters deep.
   
   If one wishes to construct a housing development in a swamp that becomes often flooded, one better be prepared to see houses of whom at times only the roof tops or at best the upper portions stick out of the water.
   
   I have seen on at least three occasions during the past 35 years that much of the area for the proposed Sage development was one vast lake that was fairly deep in some places.

It can only be hoped that our town council does not become blinded by short-term gain to ignore long-term pain.  Doug Maschmeyer knows how to prevent from becoming ensnared by the Sage development.  In leaving the information session, he said: "You won't sell me a piece of property in that development!"

Let's assume that the development will go through and that one of those floods that happen on average every dozen years or so in that area comes about.  It will be an easy job even for a junior lawyer to sue the pants of the Town of Bruderheim.  There is no way that such a flood could be called an act of God.  All of the massive damages that would be caused by such a flood would be due to neglecting to use proper care and attention.

The following image illustrates the area of the proposed Sage subdivision that is at risk of being flooded now and then.

Click on the image to be able to see it at full size.

In 1962, just before our family moved to Canada, I worked in Cambodia.  Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, is plagued with topographical problems in some of its outlying suburbs, being regularly flooded, much like the proposed Sage subdivision in Bruderheim would be. 

The Mekong river flows through Cambodia and rises to flood levels every year during the monsoon season.  When that happens, the Tonle River that flows from the lake called Tonle Sap (at Angkor Vat), through Phnom Penh and empties into the Mekong river right at the centre of Phnom Penh.  During those floods the Tonle river reverses course and flows back into the Tonle Sap when the Mekong River rises.  During those times the Mekong and Tonle rivers inundate adjacent areas, including some of the suburbs of Phnom Penh.

There are many people who live right at the shores of the Tonle River and of the Mekong River, but they built their homes on rafts that are anchored to the shore.  Those homes are always on top of the water and never become flooded. 

The owners of the homes that stand on land and on relatively small lots in the Phnom Penh suburbs that are subject to annual flooding found a different but no less effective solution.  They built their homes on pilings that extend above the ground to more than the to-be-expected flood levels.

Here is a note to the T|six urbanists: Switch emphasis from throwing smart slogans at your audience to focusing on just a single slogan: "Think out of the box".  You could break ground for Canadian urban planning and pioneer a solution that would quite practically address the flood problems in the Red River Valley.

Come up with a technically well-designed and good-looking architectural design, and you may put Bruderheim on the map as a North-American tourist attraction that could be a fantastic boon to the local economy: "The Mini-Venice on the Canadian Prairies."

The Cambodians and other people in many countries of the world came up with practical solutions to frequent floods of residential areas.  The Cambodians solved their flooding problems already many centuries ago.  So did the European Natives that lived during the bronze age right on top of the water at Lake Constance and also successfully raised their homes on pilings above the levels of the floodwaters that rose annually.  That surely would be a workable and obvious solution for the flooding problem in the Sage subdivision in Bruderheim.  Come to think of it, the idea was used in River Dale in Edmonton.  That area, by far, doesn't flood as often as does the area for the proposed Sage subdivision.  So, why should the Town of Bruderheim run risks that the City of Edmonton doesn't? 

Mind you, it would be far more practical and a lot cheaper for contractors, home owners and opportunistic developers alike to build homes on land that doesn't flood as often as does the area for the proposed Sage subdivision.  Last but not least, that would also be far safer, financially, in regard to the risk the Town of Bruderheim would expose itself to if it were to issue permits for the construction of a residential subdivision on a flood plain that is quite literally the low point of the topography of Bruderheim.

It makes one wonder what Water Resources of Alberta will have to say about the plans to build a residential subdivision right smack in the middle of a seasonal run-off.

_____________________
Posted 2008 07 19
Updates:
2008 07 20 (added comment about raising houses on pilings)