Alberta premier shares thoughts on blanket rezoning

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith went on air on her national radio show Saturday to share her thoughts on the blanket rezoning.

When asked for her opinion on this Your province, your prime ministerSmith said she has “always” lived in communities that could have different uses because of their proximity to commercial establishments.

However, she said it was just her personal decision.

“That’s why I made the decision to live where I do. I currently live in a four unit complex. “So I don’t have a particular problem with apartment buildings, and there are some beautiful villas right next door,” she said.

“But that’s my decision.”

Smith says there are people who choose neighborhoods that are close to amenities, but acknowledges that other people and families will choose different neighborhoods for different reasons and people should have a choice between the two.

“They want to have a home where they can be confident that it is safe for their children. That there won’t be mixed use of … maybe a lot of commercial or other types of uses,” she said.

“There will be similar types of families in the communities who have similar interests and are able to maintain the public facilities the way they want them to, and we should be able to facilitate a combination of all of those things.”

She added that she typically trusts municipalities to make appropriate decisions. Still, Smith added that the federal government's “demands” for a blanket rezoning put it in a difficult position with its voters.

“That's why we don't think it's right for the federal government to force localities to rewrite all of their laws just to get a little money,” Smith said.

“Municipalities will now have to struggle with the feedback they receive. And it looks like some of these meetings are pretty brutal.”

While the city debated it Housing strategy in September 2023, the federal government told the City of Calgary it must “end exclusionary zoning” in order to be approved for the Housing Accelerator Fund, which ultimately totaled $238 million. Edmonton's deal in February called for approval for $175 million.

“Those are the conditions that are attached when the federal government comes into play,” Smith said.

“You’re not just here to help. They are not here just to try to be a financing partner and deal with them in good faith. You are here to implement an agenda. And I don’t know that there is necessarily popular support for this agenda.”

Their comments come days before an April 22 public hearing on the blanket rezoning.

The proposal is a hot topic in the city. Many supporters say it will help address the housing crisis and increase population density, while many have opposed the proposal.

District 13 District. Dan McLean called for a citywide referendum But it was at the beginning of March defeated in a council vote 8-6.

District 14 district. Peter Demong recently hosted a few town halls and Landon Johnston has become synonymous with them Recall petition about Mayor Jyoti Gondek, was one of Hundreds of people at a packed open day in Lake Bonavista to share their concerns about the citywide rezoning.

At the public hearing, council will listen to concerns from Calgarians, which will be followed by a vote on changing the standard base zoning to townhouse ground-oriented infill (R-CG). A terraced house building consists of more than three residential units and is located next to each other. There can be a second home there.

Gondek said she hopes misunderstandings will finally be cleared up and hundreds of Calgarians will share their thoughts with the council.

The proposed change would result in medium-density infills with ground-level entrances such as single, semi-detached, terraced and townhouses being able to be built in the city. However, districts with single-family homes would also be affected by this change.

With files from Lauyrn Heintz and Logan Stein