On the agenda: Zoning bylaw, transit garage, audits
This week, councillors are scheduled to vote on amendments to the small-scale residential zone, review a scope reduction for the southeast transit garage, and hear an update from the city auditor's office.
There is a public hearing scheduled on April 7, an infrastructure committee meeting scheduled on April 8, and an audit committee meeting scheduled on April 10.
Here are some key items on the agenda:
- Council will debate proposed amendments to the zoning bylaw that would reduce the maximum height of buildings in the small-scale residential (RS) zone and restrict where administration would support the small-medium scale transition (RSM) residential zone. Administration said it supports changing the maximum height in the RS zone from 10.5 metres to 9.5 metres because it would reduce the overall height and mass of buildings in the zone, while enabling three-storey developments to have basement windows above grade. Meanwhile, the amendments to the RSM zone would limit support for the zone to sites within node-and-corridor areas, on large undeveloped sites, or where supported in a statutory plan.
- Administration has reduced the capacity of the southeast transit garage from 430 buses to between 255 and 290 buses. A report that will be presented to council's infrastructure committee said the project team determined the initial capacity of 430 buses would exceed the project's anticipated $367-million budget. Other modifications to remain in budget include adjusting the height of the building and including a solar photovoltaic system that meets the city's climate resilience policy instead of exceeding it. Administration said the garage will help transition the Edmonton Transit Service to a zero-emissions fleet. Council has already approved $76 million for the project's planning and design. Administration said the rest of the budget will be brought forward in the spring supplemental capital budget adjustment.
- A malfunctioning Arc card machine allowed an unknown number of people to steal about $65,000 from the city through fraudulent transactions between September 2024 and June 2025, as revealed in the city auditor's 2025 report. The thefts were reported through hotline reports to the Office of the City Auditor. The report said more than 300 suspicious Arc cards were identified and blocked, with about $20,000 remaining on them, reducing the loss of revenue to about $45,000. Administration reported the case to the Edmonton Police Service, but because so much time had passed and the cards were not registered, no charges were laid. The report said the Edmonton Transit Service has reinforced control procedures to prevent future thefts. Out of the 93 investigations that the OCA completed in 2025, 15 were substantiated. Other hotline investigations were conducted into two employees who had second jobs that conflicted with their city employment, an employee accused of creating sexually explicit social media content (which investigators determined was not sexually explicit but shouldn't have been happening at work), and some accusations of nepotism and favouritism.
