Calgarians will once again be able to have their say on citywide rezoning after city council voted in favour of kickstarting the process to repeal the policy.
The motion, which called for the repeal of citywide rezoning, was approved 13-2 after several hours of debate, with Ward 7 Coun. Myke Atkinson and Ward 8 Coun. Nathaniel Schmidt voting against.
It was co-sponsored by Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot, Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean, Ward 1 Coun. Kim Tyers, Ward 11 Coun. Rob Ward, Ward 12 Coun. Mike Jamieson, Ward 14 Coun. Landon Johnston and Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas.
“The gist of my motion is to look at starting over and trying to get this right,” Chabot told council.
The motion directs city administration to revert the city’s land-use bylaw to what it was prior to the previous city council approving citywide rezoning, but would exclude properties that had development permits approved prior to the motion or any currently under review in the permit process.
However, a decision won’t be finalized until after a public hearing in the spring, a requirement for changes to city land-use policy.
“I’ve been advocating for a straight repeal from the beginning because that’s what Calgarians want,” McLean told reporters. “They asked us for a full repeal at the doors, at community centres, across the city they want a repeal. They don’t want something watered down.”
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The previous city council approved the plan to change the city’s default residential zoning in May 2024, after the longest public hearing in city history that saw the majority of the more than 730 speakers in opposition to the idea.
The move changed Calgary’s land-use bylaw to make residential grade-oriented infill (R-CG) the default residential zoning district across the city, which allows for a variety of housing types, including single-detached, semi-detached, duplexes and rowhouses on a single lot.
Changing the city’s base residential zoning was a key recommendation and one of more than 80 in the city’s housing strategy, aimed at boosting supply and improving housing affordability.
While proponents of the policy say the move is critical to speeding up housing development and cutting bureaucratic costs, its critics claim it removed citizen input from the process, as similar redevelopment efforts would’ve required a public hearing prior to the approval of citywide rezoning.
“I think it’s about trust,” said Chris Davis, a volunteer with the group Calgarians for Thoughtful Growth. “Last year, council ignored the views of what seems to have been the majority of Calgarians.”
Citywide rezoning became one of the central issues in the most recent municipal election, with the majority of new city councillors elected vowing to repeal the policy.
Mayor Farkas’ platform included a promise to repeal but also replace the contentious planning policy.
However, city council narrowly voted 7-8 against a motion from Farkas that directed city administration to start looking into other methods to enable development and build affordable housing. Couns. Ward, Johnston, Pantazopoulos, Jamieson, Tyers, Chabot, Wyness and McLean voted against.
“We threw the baby out with the bath water,” Schmidt told reporters. “Mayor Farkas’ motion allowed us to at least look at alternatives for a path forward because we need a path forward and right now we don’t have any path forward. We’re going back in time and I want us to look forward.”
According to Farkas, there will be more work to come on a potential replacement for the policy.
“Conversations are going to be ongoing over the next several weeks and months in the lead up to that public hearing in terms of what the next steps look like,” he told reporters.
City administration said there have been 478 development permit applications directly linked to the citywide rezoning policy since it was enacted in August 2024, with the most in Ward 7 at 127 developments.
Atkinson, who represents that area, said he feels repealing citywide rezoning doesn’t fix many of the community’s concerns around those infill developments, as developers could still apply to build them even if the policy is repealed.
“This past year is not our experience with this form of development — we’ve been experiencing this for a long time,” he told reporters. “By setting us back by one year … it does not solve the underlying issue, which is fixing the rules R-CG style development and what we need to see in our neighbourhoods.”
Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness introduced a motion that asks administration to bring forward proposed changes to the R-CG zoning district to be considered during the public hearing next year. It was approved 10-5 with Couns. Johnston, Ward, Jamieson, Tyers and McLean opposed.
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