Edmonton pivot to hybrid zoning already showing 'strong' results in nearby community
The City of Edmonton hopes to implement a land-use strategy and zoning revamp that are already showing strong results in Beaumont.
Beaumont recently changed its zoning bylaws to allow more mixed-use buildings, hybrid land-uses, and homes with up to four dwellings on a single lot. The new approach to zoning and district building is something Edmonton has been working toward for years.
District planning allows Edmonton to harmonize the strategic goals set out in the City Plan and simplify zoning bylaws, land-use policies and plans.
The proposed changes will drive the city closer to achieving 15-minute districts, a goal outlined in the City Plan passed last year.
The plan aims to allow Edmontonians to access all of their daily needs —- like groceries, health care, recreation, accessing green spaces and transit — within their respective districts without having to drive.
The work toward changing district planning and zoning in Edmonton is ongoing. The City will be asking for public feedback in the new year.
"People are looking for more," said Marco Melfi, city planner. "(People) want to have these things in their neighbourhood. They want to have these things close to them.
"They want to be connected to the people they live close to," Melfi added.
"It really provides the opportunity to keep encouraging the interaction between transit and housing, where people live and how they move around the city."
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and several elected councillors campaigned to champion the change in approach to city planning.
For Ashley Salvador, Ward Métis councillor, the zoning pivot would allow the city to reduce its carbon footprint, increase transit use, and create sustainable density in neighbourhoods.
"I think it's about quality of life, and people want to be able to live a little bit more locally," Salvador said.
"When you're able to walk, bike, take transit to everything you need within about a 15-minute distance of your house," she added," (it creates) an awesome lifestyle that builds a vibrant business community as well.
"Instead of expanding outwards (as a city), we are able to build inwards and up."
- Alberta projects population will reach about 6.4 million by 2046
- 'Growth provides opportunities': Experts weigh in on Alberta’s population projections
BEAUMONT SEES 'POSITIVE' RESULTS
The City of Beaumont has already implemented a similar style of land-use planning that has helped create better-integrated neighbourhoods, a city planner says.
"What it means is we're able to focus on regulating what building looks like and how it interacts with context, instead of what it's being used for," Teaka Broughm, City of Beaumont manager of current planning, told CTV News.
"Traditional land-use bylaws focus a lot more on use," Broughm said. "We've seen a lot of segregation of those uses over the last three or four decades, whereas what we're trying to do, as a progression, is move away from that.
"It's going to look and feel like any neighbourhood did before," she said. "What's happening in the building might be different."
Broughm added that their approach to zoning allows industrial, commercial, and residential zones that are integrated at a smaller scale, making the city more accessible.
According to Broughm, this style of city planning makes cities more livable and provides certainty to developers and builders to increase continued investment.
"Our housing product still looks like a single-family home, but is a daycare or includes multiple suites," she said. "Our neighbourhoods can grow and change over time."
- Edmonton eliminates minimum required parking restrictions
- Edmonton easing requirements to allow for patio expansion
RITCHIE EXAMPLE OF 15-MINUTE COMMUNITY
For several local businesses in Edmonton, there is no better proof of concept of the results a 15-minute community can produce than the southeast Edmonton neighbourhood of Ritchie.
The Ritchie Market — housing Biera, Acme Meat Market, Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company, Little Duchess Bake Shop, and a Transcend Coffee location — opened a few years ago.
Suddenly residents had a local place to eat, grab a coffee, and pick up fresh meats or sweets within walking distance from their home. The market created foot traffic that led other entrepreneurs to the area, including Kind Ice Cream.
"We wanted something that was walkable, and that was also densely populated," said owner Candyce Morris. "Ritchie was our dream."
City planners hope the hybrid zoning bylaw changes will ensure that entrepreneurs don't have to make the first move in transforming a neighbourhood. Instead, more housing options, sidewalks, transit access, and green spaces will turn any area into a 15-minute community.
"I think we are going to see change, and I feel really hopeful about that," Morris added.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson and Alex Antoneshyn
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.