Cliff Bungalow – Mission’s President’s Message for March

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Sign Up for Email Updates!

In order for us to keep you up to date, please register your email address near the bottom of the first page of our website, www.cliffbungalowmission.com.

Impact of Lockdown and COVID-19

We have recently come out of a second lockdown, and the community centre remains closed for community events. We do not know when and to what degree that will change. All jazz events are cancelled up to and including March 3. Any scheduled jazz events beyond that date will be evaluated on a monthly basis. We also currently are not renting the hall to third parties to the end of September. We will update on any changes through emails, etc.

New Online Gardening Event on April 20

We have organized an online event called Gardening Naturally on Tuesday, April 20. Detail can be found on our website. There is an option to purchase a book also on this topic in addition to the ticket purchase.

40 Km/H Speed Limit Approved by City Council

The speed of vehicle traffic has been a perennial issue in our community. Conversion of one-way streets helped reduce speed during rush-hour because this traffic cannot pass other vehicles like they used. However, there are still concerns during non-rush-hour times when there is more opportunity to drive at the maximum speed limit. In November 2019, we surveyed community residents: 73% supported reducing the speed limit in our community. On February 1, City Council passed a motion to reduce the speed limit on residential streets to 40 km/h. This motion did not include our “collector roads” like 2 Street SW, 4 Street SW, 5 Street SW and 25 Avenue SW. These streets are where much of the commuter traffic passes through our community. We got an email from the Ward 8 office on this matter as they had received requests to have collector roads added to the 40 km/h list. We responded that we would like our collector roads added to that 40 km/h list. They will pass on these requests to administration for their consideration.

Direct Control Heritage Area Pilot in Our Community

In July 2020, City Council approved the “Heritage Conservation Tools and Incentives Update Report”. This allows the City to develop and put into place new heritage conservation policy tools and financial incentives. More information is available at www.calgary.ca/heritagetools.

One of those tools is Layer 3 Direct Control Heritage Area tool. Our community has been chosen as a pilot for this new heritage tool. In late January, the plan was to contact qualifying property owners and invite them to take part in the pilot. The City will attend our online planning and development committee meeting on February 10 to provide us with more details.

Two Passings

Two well-known former community residents passed away in early January and early February. These two gentlemen illustrate the diversity of backgrounds in our community: their diverse interests and diverse contributions to the community of Calgary as a whole.

Henry Beaumont QC passed away on January 8 at the age of 88. He had retired to Fountains of Mission in our community about 5 years ago. He was a well-known and respected lawyer and practiced law until 2015 at his own firm Beaumont Church. He loved jazz and was a regular at our Jazz events over the years. He travelled many times to New York in the 1950’s to hear the great artists of the era.

Barry Pashak passed away on February 3 at the age of 83 years. Barry grew up in Mission and attended Holy Angels School and St. Mary’s High School where he played football. He had several university degrees and taught for over 25 years at Mount Royal College. He is probably best known as the New Democratic MLA for Calgary – Forest Lawn, elected in 1986 and served two terms until 1993. At one time, he was a member of our community association. His daughter Natasha is a former development director of our community association.

300 Block 25 Avenue SW

We still are waiting the scheduling of the public hearing of City Council to consider a land use redesignation covering 306 to 312 – 25 Avenue SW. The initially proposed Land Use District was MU-1 with a FAR (Floor Are Ratio) of 4.5 and a height of 24 metres. This would allow up to seven stories. Current Land Use allows up to five stories. 3.5 FAR and a height of 15 metres. Four houses (three built in 1910 and one built in 1911) would be torn down to accommodate a new building. These houses currently have several suites each. We have heard that the applicant is in discussion with the City on exactly what Land Use District they will apply for and that it could be a while before this matter formally comes forward to Council.

During September 2020, we posted an online survey to find out what community residents think about building heights. This knowledge will help CBMCA as we deal with this proposed land use change. You still have an opportunity to complete this short survey and voice your opinion – go to https://bit.ly/3hbE6FA. Around three quarters of respondents do not support the land use change.

At some point, this proposed land use change will go to a Public Hearing of City Council where anyone can submit written comments and can make a five-minute verbal presentation. We will send out an email when we know the date and how you can voice your opinion on this matter. Please register your email online on our website, www.cliffbungalowmission.com.