欧博abgAlberta selling up to 17 properties it purcha

The province is preparing to sell up to 17 properties along the Elbow River in Calgary, where flood-damaged homes once stood, with the city getting the first chance to buy the land.

After the 2013 flood that caused more than $5 billion in damages, Alberta's provincial government made dozens of offers to buy residents' homes that were damaged by the flood.

Eventually, 17 households accepted the offer, as the province paid millions to purchase properties in the Roxboro, Rideau Park and Elbow Park neighbourhoods.

The houses were demolished a few years later, and the province has maintained the empty lots where the homes once stood ever since. While the homes once stood at risk of future damages on the floodway, projects like the newly completed Springbank off-stream reservoir better protect these properties.

Now, Alberta Infrastructure told CBC News last week the provincial government is beginning the process to prepare "some or all" of the vacant properties for sale.

The Government of Alberta bought 17 homes in the Roxboro, Rideau Park and Elbow Park neighbourhoods that were damaged by the 2013 flood. The province has since removed the homes on this land and maintained empty lots that they are now looking to sell.

"Once this initial work and the necessary approvals are complete, the properties will first be offered to the City of Calgary at their appraised value. The city would need to have an approved municipal use for the properties in order to purchase them," the Ministry of Infrastructure said in a statement.

If the city chooses not to purchase the properties, the province plans to list the lots for sale to the public.

On Thursday, the City of Calgary said it can't comment on the possible purchase of properties that are not currently listed, but that it looks forward to receiving the complete listings from the province, once they're available.

The province said sales are expected to begin early next year.

'Welfare for wealthy people'

As Calgary's city councillor for Ward 9 since 2010, Gian-Carlo Carra sat on city council during the flood and its aftermath, and some of the properties now being sold by the province used to fall in his ward before the city's boundaries were shifted.

Carra advised the city should review whether there's a good municipal use for the land that's up for sale. But he noted that while some residents are interested in the lots becoming public parks, he thinks the available land is unlikely to work well for that purpose.

"If we're just talking about turning a private lot, wedged between private lots, into a park, I think that it would do much better service as housing," said Carra.

While Carra said he knows some residents are concerned about the lots being used to create density through apartments, townhouses or condos, he believes it's a moot point due to market forces.

"I think that very, very exclusive lots that have private access to one of the city's great amenities, like the Elbow River, are going to go for a much higher price than will afford townhouses," said Carra.

An aerial view of Calgary during the 2013 flood.

An aerial view of Calgary during the 2013 flood. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Nevertheless, Carra said he believes the province should never have bought the properties. He maintains he was more supportive of the funding going toward upstream flood-mitigation efforts. He also noted that similar help wasn't offered to northeast Calgary residents whose homes were damaged in a major hailstorm.

"This was just straight up welfare for wealthy people," said Carra, who added that returning the land to once again become residential housing is likely what needs to be done.

Residents call for direct sale to private buyers

Tony Morris was one Calgarian whose life was upended by the 2013 flood.

As Morris puts it, he lives about as far from the water as you can get in Roxboro, but he still lost his entire basement to the flood. After clearing out the roughly 2,500 square feet of his home that went underwater, Morris found himself still plucking Lego pieces out of the ceiling of his basement.

It took a year and a half to rebuild, but Morris said he felt lucky. He knew many others who lost their main floors as well, facing even greater damage to their homes.

Recovering from the 2013 flood brought many river communities in Calgary together, Morris said, and led him to help co-found the Calgary River Communities Action Group, which advocates for measures to protect neighbourhoods that line Calgary's rivers from future flooding.

Since its inception, Morris said his group has wanted to see their neighbourhoods along the river restored to what they were before the flood.

"Those 17 lots now, in our mind, should go back into private hands for people who wish to re-establish themselves in the community as it was when the floodwaters found it in June of 2013," said Morris.

After seeing the province spend significant funds on purchasing flood-damaged properties, Morris said he doesn't want the municipality to now pay for the same land.

"It seems to me to be a double hit [to taxpayers]," said Morris. "We'd like these sales to go back to those people who would restore these communities to what they were prior to the flood."

Through 12 years, and several provincial governments that have followed since the 2013 flood, Morris said his group has remained consistent and has advocated for the province to improve upstream flood mitigation, with projects like the Springbank Reservoir, or offer some kind of insurance to help people with flood-related losses.

"We know for sure the city will flood again. There is no question of that," said Morris.

"There's just a question of how prepared we are for it."

2025-08-23 17:20 点击量：2

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欧博abgAlberta selling up to 17 properties it purcha

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