The Pulse: July 24, 2023

Addressing inequities is among the priorities of Edmonton's Zoning Bylaw Renewal Initiative, says the director of the project.

"Our new municipal development plan gives us direction to be a more inclusive and compassionate city, and so we had to take a step back and really think through how can we take this equity lens as we're writing the bylaw," Livia Balone told Episode 228 of Speaking Municipally.

Zoning is about separating land use, but it has "also been used to segregate people and disconnect them from places, practices, and production," says the city's Gender-Based Analysis Plus and Equity Toolkit.

One way to make the bylaw more equitable is to base the regulations on land use impacts and not on who uses the land, Balone said. For example, the current bylaw has specific regulations for pawn shops and secondhand stores, prompting Balone and her team to examine why those were being regulated differently from other businesses.

"We felt perhaps our regulations were around the perceptions of the users of those businesses," she said. "And so we don't have pawn store as a separate use (in the proposed changes). It is now just called indoor sales and services. It's like any other type of businesses that's being offered in Edmonton."

The city also approached the University of Alberta's School of Urban and Regional Planning to identify ways the current zoning bylaw lacks equity or transparency, Balone said. One such area was discretionary uses, in which a zone had a limited number of permitted uses, and it was up to a development officer to use their discretion on whether to approve other uses. Instead, the proposed changes will expand the list of permitted uses, with some conditional regulations.

"(The discretionary use system) really wasn't transparent, wasn't equitable — a decision can be different from one neighbourhood to the next neighbourhood," she said. "The research that the university had done is really giving us that direction that it's OK not to have all these discretionary uses, and so we were able to take that and then make the changes to the bylaw."

More equity is a priority for the zoning bylaw renewal, but the overarching goal is to simplify regulations, Balone said. While the proposed renewal doesn't get down to the 10 zones that then-planner, now Coun. Anne Stevenson was hoping for when she spoke to Speaking Municipally in 2019, it does transform 46 zones into 24, and reduces the number of defined uses from 225 to 51.

Edmontonians can still provide input on the proposed changes until July 30 through the city's public engagement website. Another public hearing is scheduled for Oct. 16.

Hear much more about the zoning bylaw renewal initiative on the July 21 episode of Taproot's civic affairs podcast.

• The Russian Heritage Cultural Development Association has sent a letter to the Alberta Human Rights Commission calling the Edmonton Heritage Festival's decision to exclude it from the event a "potential violation of the Alberta Human Rights Act." The letter cites sections 3.1 and 4 of the Alberta Human Rights Act, which address discriminating against someone due to their ancestry when publishing something or denying access to services and facilities available to the public.
• Mayor Amarjeet Sohi spoke to Postmedia about the Black Friday tornado that killed 27 people in Edmonton on July 31, 1987. Sohi, who was a taxi driver at the time, said he didn't know what kind of an impact a tornado could have. "It was an experience you never thought you would go through," Sohi said. "It was unreal to see the devastation and what a weather event could do to your community."
• An Edmonton senior who was attacked by a neighbour's dog last week said he is concerned about how long it took animal control officers to arrive. A spokesperson for the city said the owner of the dog, which has a "prior history of similar incidents," is now facing three fines as a result of the attack. The city encourages owners to "take responsibility" for their animals as Edmonton is "currently facing a substantial increase in complaints regarding dog attacks."
• The Scotiabank Theatre in West Edmonton Mall is one of only four in Canada that has a 70-mm IMAX film projector, which makes it an especially appealing location to see Christopher Nolan's new film, Oppenheimer. "In the digital world, there's only 30 locations that can play it and we are one of them," said general manager Jeffrey Simmons. The last time the projector was used was back in 2017, for Nolan's film Dunkirk.
• Twin brothers Brandon and Jared Vanderlinden will represent Alberta at the eighth World Dwarf Games in Cologne, Germany, later this month. The two, also known as the Dwarf Duo, were born with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. They'll compete in basketball, soccer, and table tennis. "It's an honour and it makes me feel part of the world," Brandon told CBC News. "I get to do something very special."

This week offers a pop-up market, insights for business success, an infill networking event, an outdoor concert, a farm-to-fork dinner, a food festival, and a fair.

• July 24-25, 6pm: Alberta Avenue Night Market: K-Days Edition at 7515-118 Avenue
• July 25, 12pm: Empowering Futures: Unleashing Success with Mission, Vision, and Values, presented by Technology Alberta at Edmonton Unlimited
• July 26, 4:30pm: Refill with Infill, hosted by IDEA at Rocky Mountain Ice House
• July 26, 7pm: Garden Concerts: Edmonton Saxophone Quartet at the Anglican Parish of Christ Church
• July 27, 6pm: Farm to Table Dinner with Alberta Pulse Growers at The Old Red Barn
• Until July 30: Taste of Edmonton at Churchill Square
• Until July 30: K-Days at the Edmonton EXPO Centre and Exhibition Grounds

Find even more things to do in Taproot's weekly roundups.

Photo: Taste of Edmonton brings food and entertainment to Churchill Square every day this week from 11am to 11pm. (Edmonton Downtown Business Association)