This week, city council will have its final meetings before the summer break. A public hearing will take place on July 10, a community and public services committee meeting on July 11, and an urban planning committee meeting on July 12. Council will resume meeting during the week of Aug. 21.
Here are some of the key items on the agenda:
- Administration is seeking approval to proceed to the planning phase of the National Urban Park initiative, pending endorsement by Parks Canada. The initiative, which got underway in 2021, seeks to designate the North Saskatchewan River Valley as a national urban park. Doing so could provide access to federal funding for ecological protection, habitat restoration, and programming, in addition to potential economic and educational benefits, the report says.
- Developing an assisted snow removal program for Edmonton could cost between $109,000 and $770,000 per year, administration projects. The most expensive option would leverage the Government of Alberta's Special Needs Assistance for Seniors program with another $450,000 in funding on top. The least expensive would reactivate the Snow Angels volunteer program, which ran from 2014 to 2017 to recognize community snow removal volunteers.
- A rezoning application for the Balfour Manor in Oliver, which was designated a Municipal Historic Resource in 2005, would allow for a ground-level addition alongside minor alterations to the building's historic facades. The Edmonton Design Committee supports the application with the recommendation that bicycle parking be provided in the front of the building due to its proximity to the 102 Avenue bike lane. Administration said the proposal allows for "the adaptive repurposing of the historic building in a way that does not diminish its historic integrity."
A report on district plans and the district general policy is being postponed until the second quarter of 2024. In the meantime, administration has planned additional public engagement on district planning from Oct. 23 to Dec. 1.
Balfour Manor, located at 10139 116 Street in Oliver, was built in 1912 as a fire hall and was repurposed in 1939 to multi-family housing. (Supplied)
Here are some of the other new agenda items:
- Administration recommends that any proposed "small-scale" downtown amenities — such as basketball and tennis/pickleball courts as previously discussed by council — should be directed to the Downtown Vibrancy Fund or the Community Led Construction Projects program for consideration. A potential $300,000 increase to the Downtown Vibrancy Fund, dedicated to amenity spaces and programming, could be considered by council during the fall budget adjustment process.
- A total of $10 million in funding during the 2023-2026 budget cycle will go toward renewal of community parks amenities, including in Tipton Park, Allin Park, Zoie Gardner Park, Blue Quill Park, Skyrattler community park, Crestwood area/pocket park, and Duncan Innes Park. Another $5.5 million has been allocated for Neighbourhood Park Development Program projects.
- In response to an inquiry from Coun. Aaron Paquette, administration has outlined the current state of Indigenous business supports provided by or enabled by the City of Edmonton.
- Creating more family-oriented housing in Centre City — the area including downtown defined by the City Plan as Edmonton's cultural, economic, institutional, and mobility hub — might be achieved through policy, regulations, design guidelines, and incentives. Households with children make up just 9% of those in Centre City, compared to 29% for the city overall. Administration says additional research is needed to determine the best approach, but that work could begin in 2024.
- Rezoning applications would allow for small scale housing in Glenwood, Crestwood, and Sherwood.
Meetings are streamed live on YouTube on the Chamber channel and River Valley Room channel.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated the district planning engagement would run Aug. 21 to Sept. 29, but it has since been rescheduled to later in the year.