On the agenda: Final meetings for 2021-2025 council

It's the last week of meetings for Edmonton's 2021-2025 city council. This week, council is scheduled to finish off the downtown event park deal, squeeze in several requests to administration, and review rezoning applications.

There is a public hearing scheduled for Sept. 15, a city council meeting scheduled for Sept. 16 and 17, and a special city council meeting scheduled for Sept. 19.

Here are key items on this week's agenda:

• Council is scheduled to vote on the bylaw that would finalize the event park deal between the City of Edmonton, Oilers Entertainment Group, and the province. Council voted 9-4 in late August on the first reading of the bylaw that finalizes the deal, and now the bylaw is ready for the third reading. The agreement covers building a $250-million event park beside Rogers Place, the infrastructure for the Village at ICE District, as well as demolishing the Coliseum. If council approves the agreement, the City of Edmonton will contribute $102.8 million from the downtown community revitalization levy that is to be repaid through the increased property tax revenues the investment is intended to catalyze. It will also contribute $35 million in capital costs to demolish the Coliseum, which has already been approved by council. The province will provide $158.4 million in grant funding towards the projects. OEG, meanwhile, will contribute $3 million, plus $22 million in the form of the land for the event park, and $62 million in debt financing.
• Edmonton is expected to receive up to $164.2 million to replace, upgrade, and expand core transit infrastructure over the next 10 years from the new Canada Public Transit Fund. To put that number into context, council approved spending $446 million on transit growth and renewal in the 2023-2026 capital budget. A report that is scheduled to be presented to council on Sept. 26 said the federal government will fund up to 40% of the delivery and 80% of the planning and design of capital projects. Edmonton must pay the rest in order to receive the federal funds. Administration has also indicated interest in the fund's Metro-Region Agreements Stream, which is intended to fund transformational projects such as major fleet growth, as well as BRT and LRT growth. The city is working with Strathcona County, St. Albert, Spruce Grove, Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc, Leduc County, Beaumont, Stony Plain, and Parkland County to apply for the regional stream. Administration said it will bring forward the budget adjustments needed to leverage the federal funding at the next capital budget adjustment later in the fall.
• The Métis Capital Housing Corporation has proposed the first affordable housing site in Blatchford. The development would include 55 housing units for vulnerable families requiring supportive recovery. The units will be rented at 80% of the average market rental rate for 40 years. The site was not offered to the public. Instead, the city presented MCHC with a list of potential sites for an affordable housing project, and the organization chose the Blatchford site. While the city typically encourages transparency by listing for sale all developable properties, administration said it recommended a direct sale to MCHC because the proposed project aligns with the city's priorities. The site is valued at $2 million, and administration aims to sell it to MCHC for $1. Council is set to vote on the proposal on Sept. 16.

Here are some other notable items on the agenda:

• Council is set to vote on the tentative agreement between the city and the Edmonton Fire Fighters Union. Council already effectively approved the agreement in April, which offers firefighters a retroactive 3.75% pay increase in 2024, 4% in each of 2025 and 2026, and 3.4% in 2027, plus other monetary benefits.
• During the final council meeting of the 2021-2025 term on Sept. 16 and 17, there are 13 pending motions from councillors, an unusually high number. Coun. Tim Cartmell, who is running for mayor, will introduce a motion calling for work to cease on planned bike lanes on existing roads, pending a complete review of bike lane projects at the next infrastructure committee meeting in February. Coun. Erin Rutherford will ask administration to prepare amendments to the river valley redevelopment plan to clarify requirements for Indigenous engagement, and to provide a report outlining the current legal requirements for Indigenous engagement on city-owned land. Rutherford, who is running for re-election in Ward Anirniq, will also ask administration to look into design changes that would reduce the impact of taller buildings in the small-scale residential zone. Coun. Aaron Paquette will ask for a report about the potential of transitioning the waste services department to a separate corporation. Paquette, who is seeking re-election in Ward Dene, will also ask for a report on how the city can encourage young people to access recreation. Coun. Michael Janz will ask administration to look into allowing registered post-secondary students to be eligible for the Leisure Access Pass. Janz, who is running for re-election in Ward papastew, will also ask administration to prepare an unfunded service package for the creation of a multi-use path near Hawrelak Park.
• Council is scheduled to vote on widening roads in Heritage Valley, just weeks after doing the same in Lewis Farms. In a report that council is scheduled to review on Sept. 15, administration said population growth in Heritage Valley has increased congestion on Ellerslie Road, 41 Avenue SW, and the interchange of the Queen Elizabeth II Highway and Ellerslie Road. Administration recommends that council amend the Arterial Roads for Development bylaw, which assigns responsibility for widening roads to either developers or to the city. The amendment would exchange roadway improvement obligations by shifting more urgently needed improvements to developers to allow for the upgrades to advance faster. The amendment would not change the funding commitment from either party. Council recently approved similar changes in Lewis Farms; developers are now responsible for widening parts of 215 Street NW and Whitemud Drive.
• Westrich Pacific has applied to rezone two adjacent properties at 87 Avenue NW and 117 Street NW to allow for a 25-storey apartment building with up to 285 units. More than 200 people expressed opposition to the project, with many saying the proposed tower is too tall for the neighbourhood. Some residents, however, said the location was suitable for a tower, given its proximity to the University of Alberta and other amenities.
• Council is scheduled to review two rezoning applications in Calder. The property owner at 12801 127 Street NW has applied to change the zone from medium-scale residential to mixed-use, meaning a future development could take up a slightly larger footprint and could have a wider range of commercial uses, but the allowable height would remain the same. Meanwhile, the landowner at 12612 129 Avenue NW has applied to change the zone from small-scale residential to small-medium transition, meaning a future development could take up a larger footprint and could be up to four storeys tall.
• Council is set to consider a rezoning application that would allow a residential building up to four storeys tall in Grovenor at 14503 Stony Plain Road NW. Administration said it supports the application because the property is 500 metres from a future LRT stop and is along a primary corridor. Some nearby residents said they opposed the application because it would increase parking and traffic congestion, and said a three-storey rowhouse development would be a better fit.
• Everfor Studio has submitted an application to rezone a property across the street from the Cross Cancer Institute to allow for a four-storey building. Administration said it supports the proposal because the property transitions the tall buildings of the University of Alberta campus to the residential neighbourhood to the south. Some residents said they oppose the application because a taller development would cause shadows and increase parking congestion. Council is set to discuss the application on Sept. 15.
• The city has applied to rezone a parcel in Ellerslie so it can build the Southeast Edmonton Transit Garage and a stormwater management facility. The amendment would also allow for light and medium industrial development. Council is scheduled to vote on the application on Sept. 15.
• Administration supports rezoning two properties near Warehouse Park to allow for shorter buildings. One property is currently a parking lot at 106 Street and 102 Avenue and has a direct control zone for a 38-storey tower. The owner, Autograph, proposes rezoning to the urban warehouse zone, which would allow a mixed-use, 14-storey tower. The other property is the historic Massey Ferguson Building and adjacent surface parking lot at 106 Street and 103 Avenue. It is currently zoned to allow for an 18-storey tower, and the applicant, Faction, also proposes rezoning to the urban warehouse zone. Administration recommends changing the urban warehouse zone itself to more than quadruple the maximum residential density. The zone currently allows for 500 units per hectare, and the text amendment would increase that to 2,200 units per hectare. Council is set to review the proposals at a meeting on Sept. 15.
• The owner of North City Centre in the Pembina neighbourhood has applied to rezone the property to allow a residential building. The commercial lot located at 13150 137 Avenue NW has an Old Navy, Staples, and Scotiabank. If council approves the application at a meeting on Sept. 15, the owner would be allowed to build a four-storey residential tower.
• Council is scheduled to get a verbal update about downtown investment on Sept. 16.

Meetings stream live on YouTube on the Chamber channel and River Valley Room channel.