‘Serious stuff’: Infill bylaw violations spur enforcement concerns

Neighbours say paramedics responding to a call at a basement unit of an eight-plex couldn't get their stretcher to the door.

Residents in a west-central Edmonton neighbourhood say living in multi-unit infill housing could be a safety hazard.

Neighbours of an eight-plex in Grovenor said paramedics couldn’t get a stretcher to the door of a basement unit because of a window well that violates the city’s building code.

“Not all of us agree with these large multi-plexes, but something that I think everybody can agree on is that you’re compliant,” Greg MacDonald, a vice-president of the neighbourhood community league, told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday.

He says the window wells on the sidewalks leading to the side entrances of the housing complex are not compliant with Edmonton bylaws.

The city’s design guide states they need to be flush with the sidewalk, and covered with a hatch that can be walked on and easily opened from below.

“We need to have a lot of these investigated and brought up to compliance before we have a big emergency,” MacDonald said.

The province’s Emergency Health Services agency told CTV News Edmonton that paramedics safely transported the patient on Monday evening, and that staff did not report any obstructions that caused delay or concern.

Still, infill is a topic the neighbourhood’s city councillor hears about often, including code compliance.

“This is really serious stuff,” Reed Clarke, who represents Ward Nakota Isga, told CTV News Edmonton on Friday. “It could be a safety issue and a health issue for people who are living in these units, and maybe they don’t even know it.”

The city reviews building applications to ensure designs meet zoning, building and safety codes.

A spokesperson told CTV News Edmonton “the city’s fire rescue services team also reviews infill development applications to ensure entrances are located to accommodate firefighting equipment and emergency access.”

But designs aren’t always built exactly as planned.

Clarke says the city wants to hear about violations, even if it’s only a hunch.

“I think it’s beyond fair for residents to say, ‘hey, can you make sure that this is compliant?” he said.

The city has confirmed its new “coordinated construction accountability team” is investigating the window wells.

Clarke would like council to spend more on bylaw enforcement of all kinds and plans to push for that in budget talks this fall.

“There should be more resources and more support given to bylaw, whether we’re talking about construction or infill, or about parking, speeding, all the kinds of things that really affect residents,” Clarke said.

“The beauty of that one is it’s also revenue-generating ... If we actually have more bylaw (officers), and they’re enforcing the laws, we could get more tickets and more revenue for the city, which is something we really need.”