Unanimous support from Calgary council for rezoning despite creosote concerns

Calgary city council voted unanimously to rezone a vacant site in the city's northwest, despite concerns from some residents in the area about the environmental impact of potential creosote contamination.

Creosote is a chemical that's used as a wood preservative, and is considered a probable carcinogen in Canada.

The land use amendment up for debate is  a proposal from Anthem Properties to build three apartment buildings, providing more than 250 housing units, at 1706 Westmount Boulevard N.W. in Calgary's Hillhurst neighbourhood.

CBC Calgary was headquartered at the site for nearly six decades up until 2017. After the CBC relocated, its former headquarters were demolished.

But the land is in an area that's historically been affected by residual creosote contamination, stemming from a former Canada Creosote company site that used to stand across the Bow River.

Developers behind the proposal faced questions from council, spurred by some local opposition, about its plans to mitigate the creosote.

The plant closed in 1962 after 38 years of operation, but over time, creosote leached under the Bow River and into nearby communities, including Hillhurst. The contaminated soil was walled off in the 1990s, but has proven extremely difficult to clean up in the ensuing decades.

Opposition from residents like James Stirling, a petroleum engineer who lives north of the site, raised questions about whether enough care was placed on the environmental assessment of the land and the proposed development's mitigation plan.

"We don't think the risk management accounts for the risks associated with venting creosote-related components into the atmosphere," Stirling said.

Alberta Environment has accepted the risk management plan for the project, which includes monitoring the site's construction for issues related to creosote contamination.

Stirling said he's been frustrated at a lack of communication from the city and province in response to his attempts to reach out about environmental concerns around the development.

But developers argue the project won't dig deep enough to disturb the soil and risk the community's health.

After debate surrounding the issue began at Tuesday's city council meeting, councillors continued to discuss the matter on Wednesday, where council voted 14-0 in approval.

Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian said she supported the development because she's confident appropriate monitoring systems are in place to assess the development's environment impact.

"I think there are different tolerances for risk and risk management, and I can appreciate why members of the community might have absolutely zero risk tolerance, but I do think that we have good regulations set out to manage different concerns, and it seems like all of those have been met," said Mian.

Opposition to the development from residents expressed various other concerns including increased traffic, the development's height shadowing other buildings and changes to nearby intersections. 

City administration received 10 letters of opposition about the development, as well as comments of concern from the West Hillhurst Community Association.