Zone In Issue #27

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE LAST #YEG PUBLIC HEARING

The May 30 public hearing had a total of six applications (eight agenda items), including three infill applications.

Approved unanimously with no debate: 1) Situate’s application to rezone the former Petroleum Club site on 111 Avenue from the CSC shopping centre zone to the CB3 commercial mixed business zone, and 2) an application by the City of Edmonton real estate branch to rezone the downtown land (parking lots) slated to become the Downtown Warehouse Campus Park.

INTERESTING

An RA8 application in Glenora to rezone three lots on Stony Plain Road got lots of airtime, as expected. The concerns were in relation to height and density, and the Carruthers Caveat came up, too (which Chelsey has written about before).

We’re hearing increasing concerns at public hearing about the loss of trees as a result of redevelopment on private lots (though Administration maintains that we’re on track to meet our tree canopy targets). Ultimately, the application was approved unanimously with a vote of 13-0.

MEMORABLE QUOTES 💬

🚘 👉🌳🌲 “One thing I’ve heard is if the biggest waste of green space in our city is asphalt, do we ever in a public hearing consider, for lack of a better word, selling parking stalls or making this a two-way street, a one-way street, and then giving the developer and giving the community a whole street full of trees instead? Like, taking out a lane of parking but then putting in a lane of trees […] It seems bizarre we’re talking about the footprint of the building without talking about all the black tar and asphalt.” – Michael Janz, Councillor

WHAT’S UP AT PUBLIC HEARING NEXT WEEK

The June 12 public hearing has a total of eight applications (eleven agenda items), including five infill applications.

Two of the infill applications are small scale (to allow for row housing or neighbourhood commercial).

Another application is to extend the sunset clause in a direct control zone in Queen Alexandra approved in 2019 so that construction can commence. The zone was approved with a regulation that required construction to start within three years… but a global pandemic had other plans.

WHAT SITUATE’S TAKING TO COUNCIL

👉 Situate’s application is to rezone a lot in Grovenor on the 149 Street Secondary Corridor from the RF1 single detached residential zone to the RA7 low rise apartment zone. 

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING 🍿

There’s another RA7 rezoning application in Belgravia on the 76 Avenue Secondary Corridor that we’ll be tuning in to watch. (We can never get enough of the missing middle!)

Watch it live on Edmonton City Council’s YouTube channel; the action starts at 9:30 am on Monday, June 12.

NEWS FROM SITUATE

NEWS FROM THE CITY

📣 The last round of engagement on the City of Edmonton’s draft new zoning bylaw ended on May 31… and a new round started on June 1! In May the City heard that people wanted more time to comment on the bylaw, so the engagement period was extended to July 30. If you haven’t already, check out the public engagement page and let the City know you think the bylaw is heading in the right direction. The plan is still for the new zoning bylaw to go to Council for approval on October 16.

UPCOMING EVENTS

IDEA 10 Year Anniversary Gala: On Friday, June 23, 2023, join us at the Royal Glenora Club for a celebration filled with inspiration, innovation, and the remarkable achievements of the past decade. Get your tickets here!

Better Buildings, Better Communities: On June 29, 2023, Councillor Michael Janz is hosting Michael Eliason, a Seattle-based architect and green building expert for a guest lecture and Q + A on Point Access Blocks—the idea that excessive stair requirements are limiting our building potential. RSVP here.

SOME GOOD READS

Related to the Better Buildings event above, read: the overlooked yet omnipresent stairway, forever altering the landscape of housing design.

READER FEEDBACK

Hey, thanks for reading this far! We send this newsletter in the hopes of making it easier and more fun to understand (1) what’s going on at #yeg city council public hearings on land development and (2) zoning, infill, and the land (re)development process in general. If there’s a topic you’d like to read about let us know and we’ll do our best to write about it!

DISCLAIMER

Zone In is created by Situate Inc. and is for informational purposes only. The content in Zone In is not to be construed as planning, zoning, real estate or any other professional strategy or advice.