Dear Mayor Sohi and City Council,
Re: 3.1 Charter Bylaw 24000 — District Policy
In the past few years, Edmonton has grown like never before. 100,000 people moved to our city in the last two years, with no sign of this slowing down in the near future. The acceleration of growth puts pressure on the supply of housing, with the CMHC predicting vacancy rates around 2% for the next 3 years, causing housing prices and rent to continue to increase. Growth for our city is good, but it demands that we take action to ensure enough homes are built in the places people want to live most.
The proposed district plans are not sufficient to prepare us for growth to two million people at the predicted pace. District plans and policy do not provide adequate support for higher-density housing in many places experiencing high demand and prices, such as around the University of Alberta and LRT stations. They provide a false expectation to Edmontonians: that we can simultaneously grow to two million people and improve housing affordability without allowing higher density housing in more places.
Compared to using the City Plan to evaluate development applications, district plans risk stifling home building where it is needed most. We recommend City Council to revise district plans in the following ways:
Building dense housing within walking distance to LRT stations is crucial to sustainably growing to two million people. More people living around rapid transit means less people driving, which in turn, means less greenhouse gas emissions and less traffic. It also improves transit ridership, which creates the conditions for a virtuous cycle where transit frequency can be improved at a low cost, thereby attracting even more riders. With new LRT lines costing billions of dollars, it is incumbent upon us to make the most efficient use of both our existing and future transit infrastructure by expanding permissions for high-density housing around LRT lines.
While we are pleased to see some steps in this direction in the latest draft district policy in Policies 2.5.2.5 and 2.5.2.6, they still fall short of what is needed to support housing affordability in key areas. Policy 2.5.2.5 only supports low-rise development outside nodes and corridors within 400m of LRT stations. Policy 2.5.2.6 says the City will only consider additional height in locations outside nodes and corridors if they are within 400m of a mass transit station and meet another criterion. Given many LRT station areas in high-demand areas are not covered in large part by nodes and corridors, revising these policies to provide outright support for higher density housing near LRT is crucial.
Policy 2.5.2.5 from District Policy
Policy 2.5.2.6 from District Policy
We recommend that City Council revise these policies to provide outright support for mid-rise density or higher within an 800m radius from transit stations, approximately a 15 minute walk. This approach is the emerging consensus for transit-oriented development policy in Canada. For example, last fall, the British Columbia provincial government passed legislation that would permit 20 storey high-rise housing within 200m of transit stations, 12 storey mid-rise housing within 400m and 8 storeys within 800m.
The federal government has also announced that permitting high-density housing within 800m of rapid transit stations will be required to gain access to the permanent public transit fund. If District Plans are not revised in favour of outright support for at least mid-rise housing within 800m of transit, Edmonton risks being left behind in housing policy and forfeiting millions of dollars to improve our transit.
BC's approach to transit-oriented development
Edmonton's post-secondary institutions plan to increase enrolment by tens of thousands of students, who will all need homes to live. The boundaries of nodes around some post-secondary institutions are not drawn large enough to sufficiently build enough housing for these students.
For example, the University major node excludes Windsor Park entirely, despite being located across the street from the university campus. This means that almost the entire neighbourhood will be reserved for low-density housing. This decision needs to be revised, given the University of Alberta's plan to increase enrolment by 16,000 students over the next decade and the 10,000 hospital staff who work at the health sciences campus.
Already, we are seeing the consequences of the arbitrary lines of the University major node. At the April 22, 2024 public hearing for the mid-rise building on 116 St in Windsor Park, council was split on whether the draft district plans would support a six storey building. This, despite it being located within walking distance to two LRT stations and across the street from the university. Councillors who agreed that this kind of development in this location is a no-brainer to approve wanted to defer consideration until after district plans. They weren't sure whether it was clear enough that the draft district plans would support it.
A mid-rise building across the street from the University needs to have clear and outright support in the draft district plans. City council should expand the nodes around post-secondary institutions to cover an area of 800m surrounding the campuses. Just like for transit-oriented development, permitting high-density housing within 800m of post-secondary institutions is
The most successful cities allow growth to happen in a bottom-up, organic way. Concentrating mid-rise or higher density into thin strips along busy roads is old-school central planning that effectively uses higher-density apartments as pollution shields for neighbourhood interiors. People who can only afford to live in higher-density apartments should have the choice to access the aspects of living on the interior of a neighbourhood that people enjoy. While some people prefer living on main streets for easier access to shops and transit, other people prefer living on the interior of neighbourhoods.
As people continue to move to Edmonton, we will have to and should re-examine where we allow more dense and affordable forms of housing to be built. Mid-rise apartments have coexisted harmoniously in the interior of neighbourhoods for years. They should not be relegated to exist only on main streets.
Currently, the draft district plans set the boundaries of corridors to be close to their minimums as defined in the City Plan: one block wide for secondary corridors and three blocks wide for primary corridors. There are few places where the width of corridors exceeds the minimums. City council should seek to expand the width of corridors to be closer to their maximum width, as in the City Plan. Areas where corridors are at their minimum width should be rare.
In the latest draft District Plans, the description for Map 3: Nodes and Corridors now contains the following: “This map shows the full extent of the Nodes and Corridors for the city’s growth to two million residents.” This is a curious change from the previous drafts, as well as the rest of the proposed District Plans, which describe growth to 1.25 million, not 2 million.
Map 3: Nodes and Corridors description from draft District Plans
We should not be tying our hands for by claiming that Node and Corridor boundaries will never change. Some areas may need to grow faster or slower than expected. Edmonton's growth as a whole, already faster than expected, may continue to accelerate, necessitating future changes. Thus, we recommend that the description for this map be amended to confirm that the node and corridor boundaries are to 1.25 million. Or at least to delete the implication that the node and corridor boundaries are set in stone until 2 million.
Sincerely,
Jacob Dawang
Grow Together Edmonton
Grow Together Edmonton is a volunteer organization run by ordinary Edmontonians. We are passionate about housing, climate and urban vibrancy. We are wholly independent and do not receive any funding from the development industry or the City of Edmonton.
Grow Together Edmonton