Calgary City Council votes against the will of the people on blanket rezoning
Needless to say folks are upset, including Ward 13 Councillor Dan McLean who voted against the change and joined Rebel News for an update on City Council's troubling decision.
After weeks of public hearings which included over 700 speakers, more than 200 panels and in excess of 6000 written statements which were overwhelmingly opposed to the change, Calgary City Council set democracy and the public will aside and voted 9-6 in favour of rezoning the city.
The City of Calgary posted the following update on its rezoning information page:
On May 14, 2024, after listening to Calgarians in the largest public hearing in Calgary's history, City Council voted to approve citywide rezoning with amendments. We are currently determining how these actions and amendments will be implemented in the coming months. This page will be updated as information becomes available.
The question on the minds of most Calgarians was: What is the point of weeks-long public hearings that made it abundantly clear that the vast majority of Calgarians are opposed to rezoning, if Council is going to vote in favour of this no matter what? Was it all just for show?
The change will see the city rezoned to a new base residential district of low-density mixed housing. It will also allow for both a secondary suite and a backyard suite on the same property, while removing parking requirements for backyard suites, according to the city's website.
In other words, your neighbour could add two rental units to their property with little to no consideration for parking and hog up your entire street ensuring that you can never park in front of your own house again!
Rebel News reporter Adam Soos speaks with Calgary City Councillor Dan McLean (@DanWMcLean) about Mayor Gondek's move to implement rezoning in the city and more.
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) March 19, 2024
FULL REPORT by @ATSoos: https://t.co/sqIQNmdTQT
Needless to say folks are upset, including Ward 13 Councillor Dan McLean who voted against the change and joined me for an update on City Council's troubling decision.
Councillor McLean affirmed that there is no way Council can argue Calgarians supported this and suggested that this is clearly a case of Council thinking they know better than the people they are meant to represent. He also described a few of the amendments that were made prior to the vote, which he described as putting lipstick on a pig.
We also discussed the motivations of city councillors who voted for this, including the federal funding that is tied in to this decision and why this seems to be the hill that some Council members are ready to see their political careers die on, with many expecting this to be an election issue.
We also touched on the irony of the very same councillors who voted in favour of this rezoning citing the housing shortage also opposing the development of new communities which would see more affordable housing go up more rapidly than the rezoning can ever hope to accomplish.
Calgarians are upset right now, but Dan McLean urged them not to fall back into complacency and forget about this come election time as apathy towards municipal politics is what got us here in the first place.
I don’t believe there is a climate emergency in Calgary, and despite declaring them across the country, I suspect many of the politicians pushing this narrative don't either.
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