Community leagues said the changes don’t go far enough. Supporters of increased neighbourhood density warned that capping the size of infill buildings in Edmonton’s mature neighbourhoods at six units each will scare off investors and lead to an increase in housing prices. Read More
Community league reps, infill developers provide their differing perspectives on the infill debate
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Community league reps, infill developers provide their differing perspectives on the infill debate
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Community leagues said the changes don’t go far enough. Supporters of increased neighbourhood density warned that capping the size of infill buildings in Edmonton’s mature neighbourhoods at six units each will scare off investors and lead to an increase in housing prices.
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And, with a slate of speakers nearly 100 names long, the public hearing into potential changes in the city’s one-year old zoning bylaw is expected to go into early next week. That means some councillors have to adjust their plans since summer break is scheduled to start on Monday.
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The first group of public speakers made their presentations Thursday.
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What’s on the table? A recommendation from the urban planning committee that mid-block infill projects be capped at six units. As well, infill projects would have to adhere to some new architectural controls. Buildings would need to be oriented to the street, with a main covered entrance and windows making up at least 15 per cent of the front face. Side entrances would be reduced. And, projects would be limited to a maximum of 25 metres wide, or half of the size of any lot that’s less than 50 metres in length.
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Mauricio Ochoa, president of FCX Developments and the head of the Infill Development in Edmonton Association, said the reduction in project size will lead to the cancellations of projects already in the works.
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“It’s not a rounding error,” said Ochoa. “It’s the difference between if a project can proceed or not.”
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When asked to clarify that statement, he warned, “It won’t be eight to six. It will be eight to zero.”
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He said that while reducing the cap on projects to six from eight may seem like a “modest reduction,” it will either force developers to cut corners, or, in other cases, lose their financing from the banks.
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Mike Fekete, a partner in Urban Brix, said his company will be driven back to building in the suburbs if the changes are made to the bylaw.
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“My dream is to build homes in Edmonton’s core, to build urban, walkable communities,” said Fekete.
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Fekete and Ochoa are part of a booming new industry in Edmonton. Administration told council that since the new blanket zoning bylaw was enacted in 2024, 71 per cent of the new mid-block permits issued were for eight-unit projects.
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The threat of covenants
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The recommendations from the urban planning committee came in the wake of large grassroots movements in Glenora and Crestwood, where residents are working together to place restrictive covenants on their land titles in order to make it more difficult for developers to buy properties and build multiplexes. The covenants would see groups of neighbours place conditions on their land titles that would prevent the building of multi-family residences on their lots.
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The conditions remain on titles even if properties are sold, so they present long-term legal roadblocks to city planners. While they can be struck down by the courts, they sour the milk for developers, as they add legal costs and uncertainty to potential projects. And, there is real concern that the restrictive-covenant movement will spread to other mature communities, rendering toothless many parts of the new zoning bylaw. So there is real pressure to make some compromises.
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Despite the pressure from these grassroots movements, council has to weigh the ramifications of changing the rules just one year after they were made. During the hearing, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi asked Kalen Anderson, the CEO of BILD Edmonton, how changes should be made if council votes to make the reduction. She said a grace period would be needed that would allow many projects that are in the approvals process to go through.
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Even though changing the bylaw would cause short-term pain for developers, BILD Edmonton, which represents more than 500 developers and builders in the city, is supportive of the move to six from eight. But she knows there will be short-term pain for some of the organization’s members.
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“People who already have land holdings would be immediately impacted,” she said. “They would have to completely redesign their projects. They might lose their financing. They might lose their customers. Those are real truths.
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“They can also make different choices. They would likely have to sell the units in a six-plex that they had in line for an eight-plex, for a slightly higher price point or rented at a higher market rate. Those are trade-offs.”
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Anderson said making changes to the bylaw is better than the alternative. In an election year, she feels a groundswell of grassroots support to kill the zoning bylaw entirely. To BILD, it’s better to compromise.
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“The worst-case scenario is a public backlash that leads to the removal of this great initiative and momentum forward,” she said. “It’s never a straight line, and that’s totally fine.”
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BILD has stated its support for the bylaw changes. Yet, there were several infill developers on hand, like Ochoa and Fekete, who were there in opposition.
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As well, members of the Allard family were at the public hearing on Monday to decry multi-unit infill in Crestwood, even though they are major developers in Edmonton. And one of the leaders of the Glenora restricted-covenant movement is Naomi Stefura, the CEO of Melcor Developments.
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Is the development industry sending mixed messages? Anderson doesn’t think so. She said, members are free to have their personal views. But, as an industry association, “we are, I think, rightly and smartly saying, let’s work with our council colleagues.”
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‘Harmful impact’
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The hearing began with a morning filled with speakers who supported the change to six from eight, or further reductions and restrictions down the road.
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Laura Cunningham-Shpeley, the executive director of the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues, reaffirmed the organization’s support of the new zoning bylaw, but said the city must be committed to refining the rules as needed.
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“They are in an evolution of the bylaw that will enhance its effectiveness, and be embraced by the city as a whole,” she said of the move to a six-unit maximum. But she said council must be open to making further amendments in the future as communities see the impacts of zoning changes.
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“We think this willingness to refine on a regular basis is crucial,” she said.
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Rob Smyth, who handles civic affairs for the Glenora Community League, said that council and administration must re-engage with communities to see how they can find some agreement on how to “embrace change and limit damage.”
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He said the move to reduce the scale of mid-block developments is a start, but it’s not enough. He said the new zoning bylaw is an example of “second-rate city planning.”
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“The current zoning bylaw is having an extremely harmful impact on mature neighbourhoods,” Smyth said. “This is a step in the right direction. These steps help us retain the unique qualities of mature neighbourhoods.”
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Architect Eugene Silva, a Belgravia resident who has worked on homes and commercial projects in Edmonton and throughout California, said that large-scale infill projects are taking the value out of homes in his neighbourhood. He said developers come in, build their projects, and what’s left behind are neighbours who see the value of their homes plummet. He referred to the current zoning bylaw rules as a “horror” with “little or no aesthetic qualities, no parking, no access for garbage and recycling disposal.
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“This is pure and simple value extraction,” he said. “Nothing is given and everything is taken.”
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With more debate ahead, Coun. Keren Tang said she and her colleagues will likely land on a decision that doesn’t make anyone fully satisfied.
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“We’re probably going to land on something that isn’t going to satisfy everybody in the room,” said Tang. “Our job, as council, is to hear as much perspective as possible. Those life experiences matter. I think expertise of advice matters, as well. I think our role is to take stock of all of that feedback and to say, ‘What is the best path forward?’ We won’t be able to satisfy everybody on either side, we know that, but I think we’re trying to figure out what is going to be in the best interests of the city.”
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