Almost a week after the Alberta government told Edmonton city council to roll back zoning rules, city staff and industry advocates are still wondering what exactly that means. “Sadly, we don’t really know anything more. There’s nothing in writing yet,” Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack said. “So we’re left guessing, and that’s really challenging if you’re supposed to be updating your zoning regulations.” Premier Danielle Smith and Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams announced on Thursday that Edmonton had to revert 2024 changes to zoning bylaw around housing types, density and height, and return to pre-2020 on-site parking requirements. Knack said the lack of clarity -- or metrics by which the province will determine if its demands have been met -- is worrying, because the city was given just three months to comply. “Even if they had had the written directive on the day they actually made the announcement it would still be hard to meet that timeline,” Knack explained. “The fact that they didn’t have anything in writing is also troubling from just a governance perspective,” he added. “We don’t know what problem it is they’re trying to solve, it doesn’t sound like there was any type of data used to inform their decision. “So it just feels like a really disorganized mess.” CTV News Edmonton has reached out to the province on two occasions asking for more details on the directive but did not receive any response either time. Starting in the new year, Edmonton will have 18 months to create, consult on and vote to approve a new zoning bylaw. Knack called the public consultation part of the process a “sham,” as council is being directed how to vote. That direction, he added, puts him and city councillors in a tough spot. “Either we violate the directive, at which point the minister has the ability to remove council, if they so choose to go to that extreme. But if we go into the public hearing and then we vote how they want us to vote, we’re potentially in violation of the requirement to have an open mind,” Knack said. In 2024, the province created legislation to allow ministers to repeal or amend municipal byways or order a recall vote for elected city councillors. Edmonton city council will be talking on Friday over the legality of what the province is asking it to do. Kalen Anderson, Bild Edmonton Metro chief executive officer, said members of the development industry group are also wondering what comes next. “We are waiting for that written directive,” Anderson said. “What our membership, the builders and developers of Edmonton, would most appreciate is clarity on the precise intervention that would be required.” Anderson said the city has communicated that until new bylaws are officially enacted by council, it’s “business as usual.” She added the building industry is used to shifting in response to new rules. “There are land-use bylaw changes that happen all over the region all the time,” she explained. “The uncertainty here is just what will change and at what pace.” “Our ask would be to make sure that’s it’s as surgical as possible, not broad brush, and that there’s a clear timeline associated with it so people can prepare.” With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson
