Tim Cartmell's political party, proposed zoning bylaw amendments, and gross public art caught the attention of the hosts of Episode 311 of Speaking Municipally. Here's a quick glimpse:
1. Cartmell launches party
Tim Cartmell, the city councillor representing Ward pihêsiwin who's now running for mayor, launched his Better Edmonton party at an event on June 3. The party's candidates include former Edmonton Police Association head Mike Elliott, Sport Edmonton CEO Reed Clarke, and incumbent city councillor Karen Principe.
Cartmell spoke to CTV's Alberta Primetime to discuss how party politics will change municipal politics. He said a team approach offers voters a sense of comfort and predictability about what will happen after the election. "We want to demonstrate to those that are thinking about who they're going to support (in) the next election that this group of people have met, they've talked, they have strong feelings about what governance looks like at city council, the direction that the city is going to go, and so some confidence that you'll actually get what you're voting for the day after the election," Cartmell said.
But co-host Mack Male said that parties won't matter much after the election. "It remains to be seen if several members of this party get elected, if there's any reason that they always vote together or not," Male said. "There's certainly no legal or regulatory requirement that they do so just because they're part of this party."
2. Proposed infill changes
Administration presented a one-year review of the zoning bylaw renewal at an urban planning committee meeting on June 3. Dozens of people signed up to voice concerns about infill development, while some attended to sing the bylaw's praises.
The councillors on the committee mulled bylaw amendments that would regulate the design of infill in the form of mid-block row housing. If the amendments pass, they would limit the length of the wall facing neighbouring lots to 25 metres or 50% of the site's depth, whichever is less. The amendments would also limit the number of building entrances along the wall facing neighbouring lots.
"A lot of the architectural controls ... are really focused on making infill kind of look like houses," co-host Troy Pavlek said. "So rather than the classic, 'Here's a blank wall that is now blocking out all my sun,' it's 'Here's a house.'"
Pavlek observed that many of the people who spoke against infill development were primarily against the size of the buildings, rather than the number of units, because a large single-family house can be built with the same dimensions as a multi-unit building. "The spectre is not necessarily the number of units, the spectre is the size, and that is something that we're going to have to grapple with. That is something that as development intensification occurs across the city, will be a problem."
3. Public art needs a cleaning
The co-hosts discussed a social media post that highlighted the grimy condition of public art at the Century Park LRT Station. Male said that there are installations at the Clareview LRT Station that are similarly dirty. Coun. Aaron Paquette, who's active on the Edmonton subreddit, reached out to the Edmonton Arts Council, the organization responsible for installing and maintaining public art.
"While he doesn't have a timeline for (cleaning) those globes at Southgate Centre, (the Edmonton Arts Council) did say that the Clareview ones are going to be cleaned on June 9, and so maybe getting this on the radar means those pieces of public art at Southgate Station will be cleaned soon as well," Male said.
The June 6 episode of Taproot's civic affairs podcast also included a discussion of pests, pets, and bridges. Speaking Municipally comes out on Fridays. Listening and subscription options are all right here.