Overall, we were very impressed with the voting decisions of city council this fall, legalizing many new housing units and voting in favour of a number of housing projects that will help improve affordability, reduce car dependency, and improve the financial position of the city.
We can’t reinforce enough that while the city faces numerous financial challenges, one of the best ways to generate new revenue for the city is infill, and generally, most councillors except for Rice and Principe have understood this.
However, there are two decisions (and one honourable mention) we wanted to highlight that just aren’t sitting right with us and could be a warning for an opportunistic pre-election NIMBY pivot.
We would like to thank Situate for their post-hearing recaps, which we borrow from below. If you don’t already read their zone-in newsletter, you should.
You read that correctly. A high rise on a parking lot beside the highrises in the area of highrises. The application was ultimately approved 8-4, with Councillors Cartmell, Hamilton, Paquette and Rice voting against it.
October 1st public hearing: item 3.12
Situate also brought forward an application in Wîhkwêntôwin to keep Jasper House, a mid-century apartment building located at the confluence of Jasper Avenue, 121 Street and the Victoria Promenade, and to turn its surface parking lot into a new high-rise residential tower with commercial uses in the podium. The community amenity contribution includes 28 three bedroom units in the new building.
A modest four-story on a corner of two major roads, across the street from a car wash and near other low-rise apartments. Approved 9-3, with Councillors Cartmell, Principe, and Rice voting against it.
December 9th Public Hearing: item 3.3
We'd like to especially highlight Councillor Cartmell's vote against this application. City staff assessed that this proposal is supported by the District Plans and Policy that Cartmell actually voted in favour of. But, Cartmell voted no to this concrete proposal that conformed with the same plans and policy he voted for.
While electoral posturing this year is tempting, we hope councillors and mayoral candidates will show leadership and still uphold our planning policies when they support more housing, even when it's not convenient.
The bylaw passed 8-2 after Monday’s public hearing, with councillors Jennifer Rice and Tim Cartmell opposed. The mayor and councillors Karen Principe and Aaron Paquette were absent for the vote.
We are glad to see that the City Council are cracking down on illegal parking lots, and while we would like to see these sites developed into housing, the compromise proposed would help beautify and improve the streetscape of downtown in the interim until such future development occurs. Advocates from the community as well as lobbyists from the Downtown Business Association and even some competing developers spoke in support of the bylaw compromise.
City council on Monday passed a bylaw meant to make around 120 parking lots in central neighbourhoods safer and better-looking by the end of June 2026, or face enforcement action. Property owners will need to get development permits and a suite of upgrades to continue their businesses temporarily — up to seven years for gravel lots and 10 years for paved lots. As of April, the city found only 16 of 113 outdoor parking lots in the core were legal. Many have been operating illegally for more than a decade without consequences.
Under the new rules, property owners have 18 months to get their permits and install trees and shrubs around the outside of lots, set up lighting, proper drainage, accessible stalls, and walkways through larger properties, with at least two metres of space required between roads and parking stalls. This only applies to lots that have been operating since Jan. 1 of this year in and around Downtown, Wîhkwêntôwin (formerly Oliver), Chinatown, the Quarters, McCauley, Central McDougall, and Queen Mary Park. No new outdoor parking areas are allowed in the core.
Source: Edmonton Journal
While we would like to see more housing built downtown, we also need accountability in our regulatory environment, and speculators generating easy returns from illegal parking lots should be held accountable. We hope the increased standards improve downtown in the meantime. This modest compromise should have passed unanimously.
Grow Together Edmonton