On the agenda: Bill 20, district planning, 124 Street highrise

This week, council is scheduled to discuss how Alberta’s Bill 20 will affect its budget for the 2025 election, vote on bylaws that enable the District Policy, and decide if it will approve a rezoning on 124 Street.

There is a public hearing scheduled for Oct. 1 and a city council meeting scheduled for Oct. 2, with a continuation on Oct. 3. There is a special audit committee meeting scheduled on Oct. 3 and a non-regular city council meeting scheduled on Oct. 4. There is a city manager and city auditor performance evaluation committee meeting scheduled on Oct. 4.

Here are key items on this week’s agenda:

• The city projects it will need to spend about $7 million more than budgeted on the 2025 election to meet new requirements the United Conservative Party government created for municipal elections, according to a report scheduled to be presented to council on Oct. 2. Council initially budgeted $6.72 million from 2023 to 2025 for the election. Bill 20which the UCP government introduced this spring, will ban automated voting tabulators. Administration estimates that an additional 1,230 workers will be needed to count votes by hand and larger, costlier will be needed for voting stations to accommodate the extra staff. The prohibition of voting tabulators is expected to cost the city an additional $2.6 million. Bill 20 also requires municipalities to implement and maintain a permanent voters register that aligns with the Elections Alberta register. Administration estimates that requirement will cost an additional $2.36 million over two years. The city said it will recover some costs by terminating its contract with the vendor that supplied automated voting equipment and some costs from school divisions, bringing its projection for additional costs to $5.83 million. Alberta Municipalities introduced a resolution at its annual convention in Red Deer that called on the province to allow voting tabulators “to ensure accurate, cost-effective, and timely results for Albertan voters.” St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron, the past president of ABMunis, told CBC’s Edmonton AM that prohibiting tabulators will lead to “less timely and less accurate and much more costly counting of the votes.”
• Council is scheduled to vote on more than 30 bylaws to implement or repeat land use policies to allow the District Policy and its 15 district plans on Oct. 2. If passed, the bylaws will repeat 57 land use policies, amend five area structure plans, and bring in new city planning guidance. Council passed the first two readings of the district planning bylaws earlier this year and then sent the policy to the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board. The board approved the policy, subject to a 28-day appeal period ending Sept. 17. No appeal was submitted, meaning the bylaws are ready for a third reading. If the plans are approved, they will help move the city towards two goals laid out in the City Plan — to have 50% of new housing units added through infill and to have 50% of trips made by transit and active modes.
• Casia Developments has applied to rezone a land plot with low rise buildings at 124 Street NW and 105 Avenue NW to allow for a 25-storey development instead of the currently allowed five storeys (about the same height as The MacLaren building a few blocks to the south) . Administration said it supports the application because it’s located near a future Valley Line LRT stop and along a major road, and the developer plans to include commercial bays at the street. Some residents oppose the application, reasoning that the building is too large for the neighborhood, and will lead to congestion and parking issues. Council is scheduled to vote on the rezoning at a public hearing on Oct. 1.

Here are some other items on the agenda:

• Council is scheduled to discuss a two-year pilot program to test fare gates at the Churchill and Belvedere LRT stations. The pilot is aimed to address concerns about fare evasion, safety, and security. The capital cost to install the fare gates — 30 per station — plus CCTV cameras is estimated at $4.2 million. The operating costs are estimated at $3 million. The pilot was discussed at an urban planning committee meeting on Sept. 17, where the committee requisitioned the report to council without a recommendation. If council chooses, the pilot project will be considered in the upcoming budget adjustment deliberations. The co-hosts of Speaking Municipally, Taproot’s civic affairs podcast, broke down the pilot in Episode 277.
• Council will consider providing $19 million to seven projects that would lead to 275 new units of either affordable, supportive, or transitional housingand 22 rehabilitated units. The units would be offered at various rates, ranging from rent-geared-to-income to 80% of market rents. The proposed developments, which are outlined in a report scheduled to be presented to council on Oct. 2, are in Heritage Valley Town Centre, McCauley, Wîhkwêntôwin, downtown, Woodcroft, Parkdale, and Athlone. Executive committee approved the funds at a meeting on Sept. 18, and now council must approve the funds to move forward.
• City council is scheduled to discuss how it can regulate the sale of knives at corner stores at a meeting on Oct. 2. Council’s community and public services committee heard four options to do so at a meeting on Sept. 16, but did not make decisions or recommendations. In April, concerned residents asked council’s urban planning committee to find ways to stop the sale of these knives.
• Council is set to decide which community safety and well-being initiatives it will fund at a meeting on Oct. 2. Council’s community and public services committee recommended funding $2 million for a violence prevention plan, a project to create safe spaces for the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and a top up to the funding pool for the community safety and well-being grant program. The committee also recommended adding $300,000 to the truth and reconciliation sponsorship budget.
• Council’s executive committee suggests amending the derelict property tax subclass to incentivize owners to rehabilitate or demolish such properties sooner. Since the subclass was introduced in early 2024, 20 of 207 derelict properties have been demolished. However, since properties are only assessed once per year, owners must pay the higher tax rate for the whole year, regardless of when the property is remediated. City staff recommends amending the city’s tax forgiveness policy so owners would only pay the derelict rate for the part of the year the property is actually derelict.
• Council is scheduled to conduct a private strategic planning session on Oct. 2 and receive a private update on collective bargaining on Oct. 3. Council will also meet in private for a consultant update and an intergovernmental update on Oct. 4.

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