Council to vote on upzoning more than 1,200 properties

By Stephanie Swensrude

City council is set to vote on May 20 on whether to proactively upzone more than 1,200 lots in Garneau, Wîhkwêntôwin, and the Stony Plain Road area to allow commercial uses and greater density.

The lots are located in what the city calls priority growth areas. These areas are expected to experience the most development in the short-term. The city is proactively upzoning many lots in these areas to encourage more housing development, often through greater heights and density than current zoning allows. This is different than the usual pattern, which sees the city respond to developers who apply to upzone specific properties for more density or other uses.

The city wants to encourage the many newcomers to Edmonton to live in redeveloping neighbourhoods in the core, and the process has been influenced by the new zoning bylaw that went into effect in January 2024 and the district planning policy that was adopted in October.

“There’s the hope that (upzoning) will incentivize landowners, if they choose to, to consider redeveloping their properties, to see more housing development business opportunities in some of these areas that align with that vision in the City Plan, and hopefully further catalyze demand and investment in these areas,” Lisa Drury, a senior planner at the City of Edmonton, told Taproot in August.

In the Garneau area, city administration proposes to upzone lots along 109 Street between the High Level Bridge and 81 Avenue to allow for mixed-use buildings — that is, residential towers with commercial bays on the ground floor. The allowed heights would be between seven and 23 storeys tall, depending on the lot. Most of the north side of 81 Avenue between 112 Street and 108 Street is proposed to be upzoned to allow for residential buildings up to seven storeys tall. This is meant to transition from the existing high-rise buildings to the north along Whyte Avenue.

In Wîhkwêntôwin and the 124 Street commercial area, city administration proposes upzoning most of the properties along 124 Street to allow for mixed-use buildings that could be anywhere between eight and 26 storeys tall, depending on the lot. One place administration proposes the tallest buildings is the intersection of 124 Street and Stony Plain Road, where crews are constructing a stop for the Valley Line West LRT. Administration also recommends to allow buildings of up to 26 storeys along most of Jasper Avenue between 112 Street and 119 Street.

In the Stony Plain Road area and along 156 Street, administration has proposed upzoning to allow mixed-use buildings up to eight storeys tall along much of Stony Plain Road, with some pockets allowing for 12-storey buildings. Along 156 Street, which is more residential, administration proposes upzoning for residential buildings that are between five and seven storeys tall, depending on how close the lot is to future LRT stops.

The city has created maps showing each proposed rezoning. Council has extended the public hearing until 9pm on May 20. Public hearings for mass zoning changes are well-attended in Edmonton — hundreds of people spoke over four days at the public hearing for the zoning bylaw overhaul, and more than 70 people spoke at the public hearing for the district planning policy.

Steph Neufeld, president of the Garneau Community League, said her organization is pushing for the upzoning project to be postponed. The league has been working with the city to preserve heritage buildings and single-family homes in the neighbourhood, especially along blocks that have not seen any redevelopment since the original houses were built there.

The City of Edmonton proposes upzoning more than 1,200 properties, including many along 124 Street.(Mack Male/Flickr)

Neufeld said the city is considering amendments to the district planning policy to respond to Garneau’s concerns, and that the mass rezoning should be postponed until those amendments are dealt with.

“We want to look at the community holistically and some of the areas in the (priority growth area) overlap with some of the areas we want to consider custom zoning to meet diversity, demographic, and community vibrancy outcomes,” Neufeld told Taproot.

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• If council approves the project, all that would change is the zoning of the properties. It would be up to the individual property owners to pursue redevelopment if they so choose.
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