Infill policies too broad as council looks to lock in new bylaws, group says

City council approved the rezoning application for a new modular home development next to Terwillegar Drive, despite concerns from the leaders of a nearby churc

A group petitioning for stricter infill policies says Edmonton city council’s latest changes aren’t context-specific enough ahead of final votes on long-debated adjustments.

A public hearing on city bylaws required to enact those adjustments Tuesday afternoon saw proponents of the Residential Infill Working Group bring their concerns to council.

In February, council voted to shrink the maximum height of buildings in small-scale residential zones from 10.5 metres to 9.5 metres. They also voted to focus four-storey projects along arterial roads near transit or on corner lots.

Jan Hardstaff, with the Residential Infill Working Group on Tuesday, said she welcomes many of the city amendments to height, but that there are still broader issues to consider when it comes to the size of the buildings and contextual needs of each neighbourhood.

“It’s not meaningful change, because the buildings are still very long, if all of the site coverage is in one building,” she said on Tuesday.

“We’re still going to have impacts: loss of sunlight, increased shadowing of adjacent lots, larger drainage issues, systemic issues in the side yards, functionality of the site.”

City council struck down a motion earlier this year which would have reduced maximum infill units from six to eight.

Ward papastew Coun. Michael Janz said Tuesday’s debate was also about fine tuning other adjustments, like architectural improvements to make infill projects look more like a home or reducing height even more.

He said the infill debates go hand-in-hand with other issues in the city such as developing transit stations and access to other resources while increasing Edmonton’s density.

“This is over the long term, this is an iterative and changing process, and we want to make sure that we’re listening and adapting and learning and taking what’s great and replicating it,” he said.

A final vote on bylaws surrounding the changes was postponed due to Tuesday’s meeting running long.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson