City moves closer to finalizing district plans

When Julie McLennan decided to push back against a rezoning application to allow an apartment building on the lot next to her McKernan home, she pointed to city plans that didn't include her address as eligible for densification.

"I think it’s important so community members know what to expect," McLennan told CTV News Edmonton in March.

Those draft district plans have now been tweaked.

Some changes make it plain the City of Edmonton wants to see density on corner lots or properties beside parks even if they're not along major roadways.

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City councillor Andrew Knack says he believes the plans are necessary to show Edmontonians how the city will grow in the coming decades.

"The last thing you want to do is create that type of disconnect because then you start breaking trust," Knack told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, city planners are attempting to balance transparency and clarity with the piecemeal reality of development.

The new district maps no longer have solid borders, and staff say the written parts of the plan carry equal weight.

"If you just look at the nodes and corridors map and see the boundary, you might think ‘this is the only place development can happen,’ when in fact, there’s policy support for development in a number of other places as well," said Sean Bohle, a senior city planner.

Knack's primary concern is Edmonton's booming population.

As it stands, aspects of the plans look ahead to a city of 1.25 million, a population figure that may be just a couple of years away.

"I do think we need to be very realistic with Edmontonians in saying like, 'We are growing so quickly," said Knack, who will discuss the draft plans with his fellow city councillors at the end of May, plans which could be approved by late summer.

"If these plans don’t better reflect that, we are going to have some very challenging conversations."