Hello everyone,
In October 2024 I attended a presentation with our CA President put on by the Brentwood Community Association on the proposed New Zoning Bylaw. This is the next phase in the reorganization of the existing legislation and will directly impact how our communities redevelop. To learn more about the proposed changes, go to https://engage.calgary.ca/citybuilding/cbpphase4. The document library on this site has Summary Sheets for all zoning categories, including housing and parking. You can also sign up for updates on this site.
The new Zoning Bylaw proposes to further reduce the number of permitted housing categories from 19 to two: Housing and Supported Housing. They are proposing three replacement housing categories; H-1, Housing, Small Scale; H-2, Housing, Middle Scale, and H-3, Housing Multi-Residential. To provide some context as to what is considered ‘Small Scale’, the maximum proposed building height for small scale housing would be 11 meters for buildings situated in the front of a building lot and 8.6 meters for buildings such as secondary or granny suites located in the rear yard. 11 meters exceeds the average height of a three-storey house (nine to ten meters); most two-storey houses range between six to 7.6 meters high. The proposed maximum height for Medium Scale Housing is 12 meters; Residential Multi-Family housing would allow up to 22 meters height, or 72 feet. The proposed changes also include an increase in the allowable lot coverage. In other words, more buildings, less yard space. The H-1 designation would replace housing currently designated as R-CG or R-G which is the majority of housing within residential areas today in Calgary.
Other proposed changes which will have a direct impact on any new development is a reduction in setbacks. Most single-family homes in residential districts generally are ‘set back’ from the public sidewalk by six meters, roughly 20 feet. The proposed new setback for all the proposed new housing categories is three meters which is slightly less than ten feet. Side yard and rear yard setbacks are proposed as 1.2 meters which is just under four feet. These reduced setbacks are part of the outcome of allowing greater coverage of lots. Obviously if the allowed building envelope is larger the amount of room for yard space will be lower.
There is a proposal to set parking as ‘Open Option Parking’ for all Housing Zone categories. What this means is that the applicant for the permit will determine the amount of parking stalls for any proposed new development. This allows them the option of opting out of the cost of providing parking entirely with the exception of Accessible Parking. Accessible Parking stalls would still be required.
Part of the Brentwood presentation included how some communities have been exploring Restrictive Covenants as a way to protect the existing character of a community. For examples on what some Calgary communities have been doing check out the following links:
• Lake Bonavista: https://www.bonavistarc.com/
• Chinook Park-Kelvin Grove-Eagle Ridge has some very detailed information on their website: https://www.cderc.ca/
• Varsity: Varsity residents dig into the details of restrictive covenant to limit density/LiveWire Calgary
Our speaker on Restrictive Covenants gave a general overview, including how their community had set the fee for the RC to include funds for legal defence. A restrictive covenant on any property is only as good as the legal defence of it. What this means is, someone could purchase a property with an RC on title limiting the allowed building envelope to single family housing only. They could then apply for a permit from the City for a multifamily development to occur on the property in question. It is up to the former landowner or the neighbours to defend the RC on title. If no one bothers to defend the RC, then the new development can simply ignore the RC and build as they have been permitted to do. The speaker went on to say that legal action usually consists of a ‘cease and desist’ letter to the would-be developer which usually ends the matter, but that there is always the possibility that the would-be developer will persist, so that the matter ends up in court. To date, such court challenges of RCs have always ruled in favour of the restrictive covenant.
Note that there is no obligation to join in adding an RC to your land title if you don’t want to. It is up to each homeowner to decide whether placing a restrictive covenant on title is something they wish to do. As a side note, it may be worth checking whether any RC exists on any proposed redevelopment in your community that causes you concern. Anyone can search Land Titles – there is a fee to be paid, but if the search shows that the property in question has a RC that prohibits the proposed redevelopment from occurring then you and/or your neighbours have the option to mount a legal defence. Note that time is of the essence in such matters – it will be much more difficult to stop development once actual construction begins.
Linda Mulligan
Development Liaison, Woodcreek
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