Infill concerns from Edmontonians heard at city council

Edmontonians argued for and against more restrictions on infill in the city Monday in a debate that will continue this week.

Monday’s Urban Planning Committee meeting saw Edmonton residents speak about infill as the city looks to refine its zoning bylaws.

Infill has been a hot topic over the last few years and was campaigned on during the last municipal election cycle.

Last year, council passed several motions asking administration to analyze the current zoning bylaw, some of which include recommending a reduction of dwellings allowed on an interior site in a residential area, options to reduce the height of infills and options to support the maintenance and retention of trees on private properties.

Mayor Andrew Knack said that while canvassing, he spoke to thousands of Edmontonians about infill, adding that the vast majority are in favour of refinements to infill bylaws.

“We want adjustments, we want thoughtfulness, but we’re not looking to go to either extreme,” said Knack at a provincial press conference Monday. “People understand that our mature neighbourhoods need to densify. We can’t keep growing the boundaries of our city.

“At the same time, people want to make sure that as building is happening in their communities, that we are hearing the real impacts that are happening.”

One such issue impacting a homeowner in West Meadowlark is building height.

Siegfried Kirchner has lived in the west Edmonton neighbourhood for 30 years, and recently decided to invest into his home to make it more energy efficient by adding solar panels and new windows, doors and insulation.

He said the investment cost him about $125,000 with $36,000 of that for solar panels.

But across the alley there is an infill project underway, and with it being approved under the former bylaw, Kirchner is worried it will block his solar panels.

“I do understand there has to be infill projects built in the city, and I am for it, but I believe that as current homeowners, especially ones that have been on their property for 30 years, I think they have to be consulted about what changes can and will be brought into their neighbourhoods before they can just jump in and do it,” said Kirchner.

Under the current bylaw, infills in residential areas can be a maximum of three storeys and can have up to eight dwellings.

Kirchner added that many of his neighbourhoods don’t want to see “monstrosity infills” brought into their mature neighbourhood.

“They just don’t look good there. They don’t fit in when you have a house that’s sticking out an additional 12 to 15 feet in front of where your house foundation is,” he said. “It’s going to be overbearing.”

But ultimately, infill is about creating more housing for a city that will continue to see steady population growth, said Ward papastew Coun. Michael Janz.

“At the end of the day, we as a city have to be concerned about the housing shortage,” said Janz. “We never want to get into a situation where somebody puts up one or two solar panels to be able to block any future development around them.

“These are the risks when you put up solar on your property – you never know what your neighbour might do.”

Infill advocate Jacob Dawang echoed Janz’s thoughts on infill, saying that creating more housing is more important than how a building looks, and would rather focus on that argument rather than how many people are living in a household or how many units are on an infill lot.

“When it comes to concerns about having too many people or too many homes, that’s not something that I want to see changed,” he said. “We’re a growing city … and that’s not up for debate.”

He added that Edmonton is lagging behind other cities when it comes to building more homes around transit, something that could potentially mediate parking woes that have been raised in high-density neighbourhoods like Garneau and Wîhkwêntôwin.

“We currently don’t really have a transit-oriented housing policy where we allow for more homes to be built within walking distance of transit,” said Dawang. “If we want more homes, and we say we want more homes near transit, then it should be legal to do it right away without having to be put on trial at a public hearing.”

Community members were still speaking to council Monday afternoon. The Urban Planning Committee will return to discussions Tuesday morning.

At the top of Monday’s meeting, city administration presented the results of a public online survey done on infill last month.

Feedback on the changes indicated a majority of support for more limitations on infill and density. Key themes brought up by the some-3,600 respondents included concerns with building height, maintaining neighbourhood character and parking.

More than half of the respondents expressed a desire for greater restrictions on infill than what was proposed last year.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson