Priority Growth Area Rezoning Project Update and Save the Date (August 15)
This week the league received an update from the City of Edmonton on the Priority Growth Area Rezoning project. Garneau has been selected for targeted, proactive rezonings; The City will be hosting workshops and online engagement to help inform which specific sites should be rezoned, and they are planning a University-Garneau workshop on August 15.
We will share further details of the August 15 session when we receive them. For more details, see the full text of the City’s email below:
Project Purpose
The City Plan identifies 19 Priority Growth Areas, which are the collections of nodes and corridors in the redeveloping area of Edmonton (roughly within the Anthony Henday) anticipated to experience the most near-term growth. The City analyzed these 19 areas and has selected five where targeted, City initiated rezonings will be applied to help leverage transit services and encourage more housing development and business investment in these important areas. Creating a strong system of nodes and corridors is an important part of achieving The City Plan vision of building a healthy, urban climate resilient city where everyone has access to housing and can meet their daily needs close to home.
Priority Growth Areas Selected for Rezonings
Based on a robust technical analysis and targeted stakeholder engagement, the following Priority Growth Areas have been selected for targeted, proactive rezonings:
124 Street - Primary Corridor
156 Street - Secondary Corridor
Stony Plain Road - Primary Corridor
University - Garneau - Major Node
Wîhkwêntôwin (Oliver) - City-Centre Node
Site and Zone Selection
It’s important to note that not all land within the five selected areas will be rezoned. The next step in this project is to determine which parcels of land within these areas should be rezoned and what new, higher-density standard zones should be applied.
Rezoning will focus on sites within the selected areas that have the greatest redevelopment potential, such as those located directly along corridors or within close proximity to mass transit. Potential focus areas have been identified within each selected Priority Growth Area that we believe present the greatest redevelopment opportunity.
These focus areas will be validated through engagement in the next phase of the project. Supporting technical studies will also be initiated to evaluate the infrastructure capacity to support the rezoning.
Upcoming Engagement - Save the Date!
We will be hosting workshops and online engagement to help inform which sites within the focus areas should be rezoned and what new, higher-density standard zones should be applied to the chosen sites. The engagement will include discussion and input on what zone modifiers should be applied to help guide the maximum heights and footprints of buildings to ensure they fit in with surrounding neighbourhoods and which buildings should have ground-floor business space.
Please save the date for the following tentative workshop dates:
August 14: Stony Plain Road /156 Street Workshop
August 15: University-Garneau Workshop
August 21: Wîhkwêntôwin (Oliver)/124 Street Workshop
The times, locations and registration process for the workshops is currently being finalized. Those details, as well as information on how to participate in the online engagement, will be shared with you via email later this month. Once available, we encourage you to share that information with your networks to ensure they are aware of and can participate in the upcoming engagement.
Questions and More Information
Please reach out if you have any questions prior to the workshops or would like to schedule a separate meeting for your League Executive to discuss the project more in-depth. More information on the project can also be found at edmonton.ca/PriorityGrowthAreaRezoning.
