Edmonton city councillor's infill moratorium attempt fails for legal reasons

Edmonton city council won't be putting a moratorium on infill, after the city's legal team advised that doing so would contravene provincial legislation.

Ward pihêsiwin Coun. Tim Cartmell, who's also a mayoral candidate in the upcoming election, put forward a motion Monday evening to pause development approvals for mid-block properties, in the small scale residential zone, until the city re-examines plans for groups of neighbourhoods. 

"There's a reasonable opportunity to pause this work while we get better clarity on some of the adjustments that we might make," Cartmell said during the meeting.

Councillors learned — first in a memo and again during the meeting — that such a move would go against the Municipal Government Act, since city councils can't override bylaws with motions and moratoriums.

Mayor Amarjeet Sohi ruled the second part of Cartmell's motion, which included the moratorium, was out of order and a majority of council members supported his ruling. 

Cartmell said he still wanted to see more engagement and analysis on the city's district plans, but withdrew the motion after hearing similar work was underway and could not be sped up. 

In a news release Monday evening, he said the city's legal department shut him down, but he remains "committed to fighting for a planning system that puts Edmontonians first."

Though the moratorium won't be proceeding, multiple speakers at Monday's public hearing spoke in favour of the idea, urging city council to rethink city-wide zoning changes that came into effect last year.

Council spent most of the day listening to commentary on proposed changes to the small-medium scale transition zone, but many speakers didn't reference those changes. Instead, they talked about changes proposed for the small-scale residential zone and their thoughts on the zoning bylaw in general. 

"When we talk about zoning, it can be a fairly complex conversation, so people are speaking broadly to the concerns or opportunities that they see in front of us," Ward Métis Coun. Ashley Salvador told reporters Monday afternoon.

Speakers raised concerns during the meeting about the pace of development, parking, tree loss and architecture. Some said a proposed change to limit the number of allowable units in a midblock rowhouse, from eight to six, doesn't go far enough. 

"Mature neighbourhoods and their tree-lined streets and historic charm, nurtured over decades, are at risk," said Crestwood resident Beth Allard Clough, who urged council to pause the zoning bylaw renewal.

Some speakers, however, urged councillors not to do too much revising.

Jeff Booth, a planner with Situate Inc., who spoke on behalf of the Infill Development in Edmonton Association, said the industry could live with some of the proposed changes — but not if all of them were approved.

"We're kind of getting into death-by-a-thousand-cuts territory," Booth said.

The bylaw's proponents have said it's helping increase density in older neighbourhoods, leading to more housing supply in areas that already have roads, libraries and other amenities.

After hours of commentary, council voted to prohibit some upzoning applications outside major roads and central areas. Ward papastew Coun. Michael Janz said that will give residents clarity on where bigger developments will take place. 

Councillors voted to extend the meeting later this week and punt some agenda items to public hearings in August. 

According to the Office of the City Clerk, nearly 200 people registered to speak at Monday's public hearing. Many of those speakers will have to attend a future meeting to comment on proposed changes to the small-scale residential zone and other items on the agenda. 

Steven Lakey, who lives in the west end and attended the public hearing in person, said he felt frustrated with council over the timing of the hearing.

There is limited time left for meetings because council breaks for the summer at the end of next week, and there's a fall election looming.

"This is something they should have considered months, months ago," Lakey said.