[ad_1]
Edmonton city council will begin holding what’s expected to be three days of public hearings on Monday to get feedback on its new proposed zoning bylaw, which one city councillor noted Thursday would be the first time it has been significantly changed in decades.
For five years, the city has been gathering feedback on the changes being proposed.
“I think there are some really exciting elements in the new zoning bylaw that are going to get us to that city plan vision,” Coun. Ashley Salvador said Thursday.
“I think about opportunities for creating more walkable 15-minute communities, incorporating small-scale retail, having cornerstores back in our neighbourhoods, child care closer to home and more housing options for folks who might not be able to afford a single family home.”
There are a number of major changes that the new zoning bylaw proposes: to allow for infill housing to be built on any residential lot in Edmonton without the builder needing to go through an approval process with the city and to encourage small restaurants, coffeeshops and retail stores to open next to houses in neighbourhoods.
The bylaw also proposes that dense housing be allowed on any lot in the city, with some zones allowing infill and small apartments and others allowing highrises.
In recent months, Global News has spoken with Edmontonians who support the changes being proposed, and others who oppose it.
Nadine Chalifoux, the chairperson of the Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, said she has significant concerns about the proposed changes.
“This bylaw change is actually going to make it easier for developers to build wherever they want, whenever they want,” she told Global News on Thursday
“It’s for profit basically and it’s not going to encourage them to build affordable houses.”
–with files from Global News’ Sarah Komadina and 630 CHED’s Stephanie Swensrude
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
[ad_2]
Source link
