There will not be a vote on repealing, or not repealing, blanket upzoning in Calgary city council chambers until Thursday at the earliest, but it most likely will come after the Easter weekend.
Council sits for a regular meeting on Tuesday that deals with city business other than blanket upzoning and on Wednesday, eight council members will be at a community development committee meeting.
Those meetings are scheduled well in advance, and dates cannot be changed due to agenda items.
There are approximately 120 people yet to speak to council, which will take more than two days in chambers, given the average times during the public hearing to date.
That number could increase, said Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas.
“We are in the homestretch, but we have more and more people signing up, to speak, which I think is a great thing,” said Farkas. "I know that some people would like us to be able to get to a decision, but we can’t start on that until we’ve heard from absolutely everyone.”
According to a count by the staff of Ward 14 Cllr. Landon Johnston, the majority of Calgarians speaking to council have been in support of repealing blanket upzoning, including former city councillors, Sonya Sharp and Terry Wong.
Sharp urged council to repeal the bylaw and “reinstate thoughtful and balanced planning processes, and commit to meaningful reform within the planning department.”
“Strong communities require strong planning, transparency, and real engagement with residents,” said Sharp.
Also in favour of a full repeal are officials from the Calgary Real Estate Board whose chief economist, Ann-Marie Lurie, said blanket upzoning is not achieving its targetted objectives.
“Improving affordability, increasing missing middle development in the inner city, it didn’t really do that. We’re seeing things that are pretty similar to what they were before rezoning," said Lurie.
“Our purpose on this is more about how do we go back to something that really gives more certainty for buyers and sellers and builders?”
Council will go into debate of repeal or not repeal after all Calgarians who have signed up have been heard, a bylaw mandated by the Alberta Municipal Government Act.
Calgarians can sign up to speak or provide a written submission through the duration of the public hearing.
Once the debate begins, likely next week, several options are on the table, including full repeal and a partial repeal prohibiting rowhomes and townhomes from being built mid-block and limiting each parcel to six suites, down from the current limit of eight suites for R-CG zoning.
Tabulations of opinions by Cllr. Johnston's staff show, as of Monday, 77% in favour of repeal, 20.5% opposed, and 2.5% neutral.
