2018 Lion Awards
We are very lucky to have great people on our board. Two of those people were recognized at the 2018 Lion Awards. Marilyn Williams, our Heritage Director, was recognized in the Advocacy & Awareness – Individual category. Kate Zago, one of our Directors at Large, was recognized in the Community Vitalization – Historic Signal Box Program. Congratulations to both. There was an article in the September newsletter on page 13.
The 2018 Calgary Heritage Authority Lion Awards were held on August 2nd at the iconic Palace Theatre. The biennial awards were started in 2003 and named for the Centre Street Bridge lions, sculpted locally in 1916 and installed in 1917. The bridge and the beloved 12,600 kg lions were designated a municipal historic resource in 1992. Awards recipients receive a (much smaller and lighter) replica of the lion statuettes in recognition of their efforts to champion and preserve heritage in Calgary.
Looking for Some Good People for our Community Association Board
The next Annual General Meeting will take place on Wednesday, November 21. We need to fill positions on the board, including Treasurer, Social Director, Vice President and Director-at-Large. As Treasurer, you would have an important oversight role. Although any formal accounting is done by a contract person, an understanding of this field would be an asset. The Vice President position often takes on or helps with any number of community activities and projects where extra help is needed. The Social Director position deals with the fun side of community activities by coordinating the many events our board plans each year. Lastly, we would like to add one or two Directors-at-Large who take on special projects and help with others. If you are interested in exploring any of these opportunities, please contact me at [email protected].
Pocket Park / Plaza
This special project has been spearheaded by Kate Zago. It is located at the southwest corner of 17th Avenue and 5A Street SW. It was neglected and unused public space that will now be an urban oasis thanks to Kate and her friends. The project is being constructed at the time of writing this column and has taken several years to complete. Many of you participated in the public consultation held on February 11, 2016. This project is a community-based initiative undertaken through Cliff Bungalow – Mission Community Association. The City would normally undertake a project such as this. While the City has provided a grant, it is a CBMCA project being managed by Kate. Look further in this newsletter for more information on the Pocket Park. We hope to have an unveiling after it is completed.
Proposed Development at 25th Avenue and 5th Street SW
Our community Planning and Development Committee met for a second time with the applicants on September 12. We focused on the proposed building, which could be built if the proposed land use change is approved by City Council. We have already made it clear we do not support that land use change. We talked about how the building could be improved and the specific things we had identified as concerns. One thing we should make clear, we do not oppose the proposed use – seniors living. If they were to propose a seniors living building within the current land use rules, we would have no problem with that situation.
There will be a Public Hearing of City Council to approve or not to approve the Land Use change that is required. This means this will be a political decision. This could be this fall or in the new year. When the public hearing is scheduled, there will be an ad in a Thursday paper before the hearing. Anyone interested can submit a letter prior to the hearing and can speak for 5 minutes at the hearing. We will keep you informed as we find out when that is going to happen.
The current Land Use is M-C2 with a height limitation of 16 m and a FAR (Floor Area Ratio) of 2.5. They are applying for Land Use District MU-1, which allows a height of 45 m and FAR of 7.5; around three times the current approved Land Use. While our Area Redevelopment Plan supports increased density, historically the number one development issue in our community has been height. This was confirmed during the review of the ARP and during the two community-wide consultations in recent years. This proposal does not respect this widely held position.
Community Clean-Up
This year’s Community Clean-Up was a resounding success! Big thanks to Shannon MacLeod for setting the day up and getting us organized. We would like to acknowledge all those who volunteered to help set up, host and take down at the end of the day – Rick Williams, Ken Hryciw, Amanda West, Shauna De’Andrea, Bryce Kirk, Lynn Kirk and Natalie Bourgault. If we missed you on the list, it’s because we forgot to get a list of names (shame on us!), but we hope you, and everyone we mentioned, know how grateful we were for your assistance! Thanks to Recycle-Logic and Mike, the scrap metal guy, for being there and helping to make the event such a success. Many thanks as well as to all of our wonderful neighbours for showing up and sharing/donating for a good cause. A full dumpster of community refuse has gone to the dump, many items exchanged hands between neighbours, and the Women In Need Society (WINS) took a great many items to the people who desperately needed them. Looking forward to seeing you there next year!
