Achi news desk-
More than 650 people have signed up to speak about Calgary’s proposed rezoning rules next week in what officials are calling “the largest public hearing the city has ever held.”
Ahead of what is likely to be a meeting that spans all of next week, the city has also received more than 5,500 written submissions about the issue, captured on around 13,000 pages which attached to the agenda of the hearing.
The city is holding the session before council will have to decide whether to amend the land use bylaw to allow for more housing density across Calgary’s communities.
What is being proposed is the rezoning of an entire city into an area focused on Residential Grade (R-CG), which would allow for more housing options such as semi-detached houses and terraced houses on a plot of land. Proposed development projects would still have to go through the same process of applying for a development permit before construction is allowed to begin.
Monday’s public hearing will start at 9:30am and last until 9:30pm each day.
Housing needs versus community concerns
In feedback gathered from a series of information sessions and online webinars over the past few months, the city says about 70 percent of respondents oppose the overall zoning changes.
According to the ‘What We Heard’ report released by the city, people have concerns about the impact rezoning could have on parking, community character, demand on existing infrastructure and the impact the changes could have get on property values.
But people also say zoning changes could help boost the supply of homes during the ongoing housing crisis. Eliminating the need to go through the land use applications for each project would allow homes to be built more quickly, supporters of blanket rezoning say.
There are 43 appendices to the agenda for Monday’s meeting with each appendix containing hundreds of pages of written submissions about the matter.
“Calgarians make decisions about where they want to live based on the types of neighborhoods they want to live in,” said one of the thousands of submissions opposing the zoning changes.
“General rezoning for condensed living projects will completely change the neighborhoods these citizens worked so hard to invest in,” the submission said.
“This will reduce bureaucracy, give property owners more freedom to build on their property and increase the much needed housing supply,” wrote someone in favor of the general changes.
“It will also increase the tax base and help the city fund the services that all residents need.”
People can still register to speak at next week’s meeting and presenters can attend in person or remotely. Those who register will be given a panel number and an approximate time for when they are expected to speak to the council.
For more information, go here.
