Following presentations to Calgary Planning Commission, and the Committee on Planning and Urban Development, Council approved four amendments to the Developed Areas Guidebook. The amendments are as follows:
- A new building block, Employment – Industrial Flex to support light industrial, residential and commercial uses together. This block is being implemented and tested through the proposed Chinook Station Area Redevelopment Plan;
- Proposed amendments to heritage policies to provide additional guidance to local area plans for heritage preservation;
- Amendment to Policy 9.2.3 (b) (ii) of the Guidebook to indicate that the Guidebook prevails when there is a conflict with policy in a local area plan. Local area plans and the Guidebook should be in alignment, and in the rare event that a conflict is identified, the Guidebook policy will prevail;
- The addition of the R-CG land use district to the Neighbourhood – Low-Rise building block, and the M-CG land use district to the Neighbourhood – Limited building block within Table 4 of the Guidebook (appendix section that is non-statutory).
The Federation received clarification that in the case of the third amendment, the Developed Areas Guidebook would apply over an applicable Area Redevelopment Plan, however, the city will be working to ensure that plans to align in hierarchy. The Municipal Development Plan also provides guidance to allow local area plans to vary from the higher level policy by allowing for local-specific context. Nonetheless, the Federation has had concerns about how this would apply in practice and therefore submitted this letter.
Next Steps
The Developed Areas Guidebook project team will be engaging in significant further changes to the document throughout 2019. We will continue to update you as opportunities and details arise. You can learn more here.