On the agenda: Zoning bylaw, Happy Beer Street, tax forgiveness

This week, councillors are scheduled to discuss proposed changes to the zoning bylaw, an entertainment district on Happy Beer Street, and whether they should forgive taxes for a handful of non-profits.

There is an urban planning committee meeting scheduled for Feb. 9 and 10, and an executive committee meeting is scheduled for Feb. 11.

Here are some key items on the agenda:

• Urban planning committee is set to review proposed changes to the zoning bylaw that would limit infill in mature neighbourhoods. Administration suggests amending the small-scale residential (RS) zone, used in most residential neighbourhoods within Anthony Henday Drive, to reduce the maximum number of units on a mid-block site from eight to six. The previous city council narrowly voted in July 2025 to keep the unit cap at eight until more public consultation could be done. Administration is also proposing to increase the minimum lot area required per unit. A report outlining the changes says the approach will "reduce the overall development intensity, reduce conflicts (e.g. vehicle parking and waste collection bins) by accommodating more operations on site, and improve design outcomes while aligning and right-sizing the approach to the incremental development envisioned for the interior of neighbourhoods by the City Plan."
• Urban planning committee is also expected to consider proposed changes aimed at bigger infill projects outside of nodes and corridors, where administration is planning for the most growth. It recommends changing both the district policy and the small-medium scale residential (RSM) zone to limit where the zone would be supported. Rezoning applications for up to four storeys outside nodes and corridors would mainly be supported only at sites that are both near a mass transit station and along an arterial road, or on a corner site along an arterial road. City staff would also shift away from a strict checklist toward a more flexible set of factors for staff to use when evaluating rezoning applications. Administration recommended against a bylaw to regulate trees on private property.
• If councillors support the changes, administration will draft amendments to be debated at a public hearing, probably on April 7. Staff proposes that if council supports the amendments, the changes would come into effect three months after the public hearing to allow for current applications to work through the review process.
• Executive committee will review a bylaw that would establish an entertainment district on part of Happy Beer Street. The bylaw would close the street to vehicle traffic during certain periods and allow patrons to consume food and alcohol purchased from adjacent restaurants as they walk along the street. Committee is expected to make a recommendation to council, which will vote on the bylaw at a future meeting.
• Administration recommends cancelling $265,000 in unpaid taxes from accounts where collection efforts have been unsuccessful. The sum is from 172 inactive manufactured home accounts or leased accounts, or from businesses that have not paid their business improvement area taxes. A report that will be presented to executive committee on Feb. 11 says it's challenging to collect BIA taxes because taxes are not secured against property, unlike property taxes. If a property owner doesn't pay taxes, the city can auction the property, but the available enforcement mechanisms for BIA taxes are less effective. If committee recommends cancelling the taxes, council will make the final decision at a future meeting.
• Three non-profit organizations have asked the city to forgive taxes for previous years. Homes 4 Hope operates a sober living facility. It failed to apply for non-profit tax exemption status in 2023 and 2024, and it is asking for about $10,000 to be forgiven. The Alberta Craft Council owes about $11,600 because it did not provide required documentation in 2023. The Ethiopian Canadian Community Association of Edmonton is asking for up to $41,000 to be forgiven after it did not renew its exemption status in 2023 and 2024. All of the requests fall outside of the council policy that governs tax forgiveness. Executive committee has the option to recommend that council forgive all or some of the outstanding tax amounts.

Here are updates on some items we told you about last week:

• After administration presented an interim report about the 2025 municipal election, councillors asked questions about the at-times chaotic days that followed. Coun. Thu Parmar asked about the Oct. 22 recount for her ward, which saw her go from being six votes behind candidate Darrell Friesen to winning by more than 600 votes. Edmonton Elections returning officer Aileen Giesbrecht said something seemed wrong when she looked at some results coming in from a particular station, prompting her to call a recount. "I won't say that everybody gets the same amount of votes at every voting station, but when you start to see anomalies, it does make you question it," Giesbrecht told councillors. "I didn't have a computer system to go back to, I had to actually go back and look at the papers … I didn't have the information I needed to check and release confidently, and so that's why I was the one that called the recount." Edmonton Elections issued a release on Oct. 23 explaining how the error was made. Coun. Jon Morgan inquired about the Oct. 22 announcement that some ballots cast at Keheewin School had not been properly accounted for, and that the ballots could impact the outcome of the race in Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi. Giesbrecht said in this case, the problem stemmed from legislation requiring election workers to store spoiled ballots, election forms, and additional paperwork in ballot boxes, which caused confusion when cataloguing the boxes.
• Council voted to approve a rezoning application from K&H Land Development to rezone land adjacent to the Century Park LRT Station and Transit Centre. The new zoning facilitates the development of about eight hectares of vacant land, some of which is now used for park-and-ride, into a transit-oriented development. While some councillors were unhappy about the reclassification of the proposed development's pedestrian-oriented main street into something geared more towards vehicle access, many said they supported the rezoning because it would help the development move forward. "While it'd be phenomenal to have a pedestrian-only utopia, I'm not sure that's really in the cards right now," said Coun. Aaron Paquette. "It's a far cry better than pretty much most streets you'll see in the city of Edmonton." In the end, the vote was unanimous, with Mayor Andrew Knack and Coun. Thu Parmar absent.

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

For more on various civic issues — including what's happening with the blighted BMO site on 101 Street, the return of Alberta government workers to downtown, and Wîhkwêntôwin neighbourhood renewal — listen to Episode 342 of Speaking Municipally.