Edmonton city council passed big decisions and final motions before ending its term

By Stephanie Swensrude

The 2021-2025 council has met for the final time, and the official campaign period for the municipal election on Oct. 20 has begun. But before calling it a day, the current council tackled several big policy changes, agreements, and final motions that may get lost in the election campaign. Here’s a synopsis.

Zoning bylaw

In late June, council started a public hearing to examine proposed changes to the zoning bylaw that would end up stretching into council’s summer break. Councillors voted to amend some parts of the zoning bylaw while keeping other parts intact, and they also directed administration to prepare amendments to the zoning bylaw and district policy that could be decided on by the next council. This followed months of mounting discontent with infill development in the city among a segment of the population, with some residents feeling that their neighbourhoods were changing without their input. Taproot examined this in July.

Administration prepared amendments to the zoning bylaw that would, among other changes, restrict the number of units that can be built on mid-block infill sites in the small-scale residential zone from eight to six. Nearly 200 people signed up to speak at the public hearing. Many expressed frustration at how infill construction has changed their neighbourhoods, though some residents said the city was on the right track and urged council not to give up.

After hearing from the speakers, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi introduced a motion to strike the unit maximum from the amendments, thus keeping the limit at eight units. The motion barely passed; Sohi, plus councillors Aaron Paquette, Keren Tang, Erin Rutherford, Anne Stevenson, and Jo-Anne Wright voted to keep the eight-unit limit. But the idea of reducing mid-block infill to six units isn’t gone forever; council has asked administration for a report analyzing how that change would affect the financial feasibility of infill and the number of units that would be constructed.

Council did, however, vote to change some design policies for mid-block infill in the small-scale residential zone. Council voted to approve reducing the maximum size of a building and the number of entrances that are permitted to face neighbouring properties. It also voted to approve changing the required design for the facade of infill buildings. Council also directed administration to bring forward funding options for reinstating the infill liaison team during the next budget adjustment, which will be decided by the next council.

Fan park deal

At the last meeting of the term on Sept. 19, council officially approved the deal between the City of Edmonton, the provincial government, and Oilers Entertainment Group to build an event park and housing near Rogers Place (council essentially approved the agreement in late August but gave the bylaw its second and third reading on Sept. 19). The deal, using the Community Revitalization Levy, will also see money go to the demolition of the Coliseum and the development of Exhibition Lands near the Edmonton EXPO Centre. The total value of the deal is $408.2 million, to be split between the province, city, and OEG. Council passed it with a 9-4 vote, with councillors Michael Janz, Andrew Knack, Rutherford, and Wright voting against.

The deal was contentious, with proponents suggesting the city should welcome any funding it can get from the province, along with investment from the private sector. But Knack, who is also running for mayor, said the deal was rushed and put the city in a weak negotiating position. “A gun is to our head right now, saying, ‘No, don’t dare amend this agreement, because if you amend it, we don’t have enough time to fix it. It’s going to be thrown away,’” Knack said. “We’ve been given no choice. You either have to say, ‘Yes, we want some of this money’... or you could try to amend it and then potentially risk the whole piece.”

New police chief

Also on the very last day of meetings on Sept. 19, council unanimously voted to ratify the new chief of the Edmonton Police Service, Warren Driechel. The Edmonton Police Commission had chosen Driechel and presented its selection to council for a vote. Driechel had been working as co-interim chief alongside Devin Laforce since former Chief Dale McFee retired in February.

The 2021-2025 council was sworn in about four years ago. They were busy until the bitter end debating agreements, introducing motions, and appointing the new police chief. (Mack Male/Flickr)

Driechel said he wants to maintain the work McFee already started. “I think we’re pointing in the same direction. We’ve built a lot of really great things over the last five, six years, really optimizing some of those things,” he said at the press conference announcing the new position.

When Driechel was a part of the drug and gang enforcement unit, he was involved in a scandal in which officers were caught purchasing anabolic steroids from fellow cops between 2005 and 2013.

At the event announcing his appointment, Driechel said the scandal follows him every day.

“I was struggling with some things at the time. They’re very personal to me. I always knew that at some point it would become public, and when it did, I struggled with the idea that it defined me as a person,” he said. “I’m just hoping that eventually I can pass it and it just doesn’t define me.”

Final motions

At the final regular council meeting, councillors had a long list of motions pending to get through. Councillors typically use the motions to ask administration to create a report about a particular issue or to prepare amendments to a bylaw or policy that would then be debated and voted on. Less commonly, councillors can use the motion to direct administration to do something.

Thirteen is an unusually high number of motions for a council meeting. Given the election is approaching, this could be the last chance for individual councillors to create such motions before they potentially lose their seat.

Ward O’day-min Coun. Anne Stevenson spoke through tears as she introduced a motion aimed at keeping 20 affordable housing units in Riverdale. HomeEd, an affordable housing provider owned by the City of Edmonton, listed for sale the Riverdale Place townhouses in the spring, noting they had reached the end of their useful lives and that the sale could help fund new affordable housing. Tenants and other Riverdale residents had been fighting to keep the units. Stevenson’s motion directs administration to bring forward a rezoning application that includes a requirement for a minimum of 20 affordable housing units on the lot. That motion passed 9-4, with councillors Tim Cartmell, Jennifer Rice, Karen Principe, and Wright voting against. The motion doesn’t necessarily keep the affordable housing units; the next council will vote on the rezoning application at an indeterminate future meeting.

Cartmell, who is running for mayor, introduced a motion directing administration to cease construction work on bike lane projects where a lane is intended to replace a lane of vehicle traffic, pending a complete review of all individual bike lane projects. After several unsuccessful attempts from other councillors to amend the motion, it was a put to a vote and failed 4-9, with councillors Sarah Hamilton, Cartmell, Rice, and Principe voting in favour.

Rutherford, meanwhile, made a motion asking administration to explore how to reduce the impact of infill buildings in the small-scale residential zone that are constructed to their maximum height. Following council’s unanimous approval, that information will be included in the aforementioned report analyzing the eight-unit maximum, which is expected to be presented to council in early 2027.

Rutherford also introduced a motion that she had intended to introduce in August, when council passed the new river valley area redevelopment plan. She asked administration to prepare amendments to the plan that clarify requirements for Indigenous engagement, and to write a report to clarify the current legal requirements for Indigenous engagement on both city-owned land and private land in the river valley. Council approved the motion unanimously.

Knack wanted to ask administration to explore purchasing part of the Fulton Creek land in southeast Edmonton. Earlier this year, council rejected a proposal that would have seen the Fulton Creek Business Park expand, the creek relocated, and nearly 7,000 trees felled. Knack’s motion did not pass; only Knack, Hamilton, Salvador, Janz, and Stevenson voted in favour.

Janz, whose ward includes the University of Alberta, introduced a motion asking administration to consider adding post-secondary students to the Leisure Access Pass program. The program provides access to municipal recreation facilities and attractions at a free or reduced cost. Council passed the motion unanimously, and administration will return to council’s community and public services committee next year with more information.