NIBMYism
City Council: March 1, 2010 – Results
Mar 1st
I was only able to catch the City Council meeting tonight between 1900 and 2030.
Of interest were a few items that were up for discussion:
1. A series of 6 residents made presentations to Council on the pending Chief Whitecap Master Plan that will make it’s way before Council sometime this spring. There main contention was that off-leash dogs were detrimental to the Park and should be completely restricted. There concerns were generally detailed in a recent Star Phoenix article. Personally (as a dog owner and frequent user of the park) I found some of their conclusions a bit dramatic and at times patently false (wild, aggressive dogs running everywhere, no children in the park, contamination of the river water quality, dogs eating all the animals); however, a good point was raised by one speaker – the number of off-leash users accessing the park has dramatically increased over the past 3 years and it is a sign that the city does not have an adequate amount of off-leash area within the City limits. Here is a link to a post I wrote on the subject last year.
2. The Hampton Village re-zoning issue (detailed here) came up for approval this evening. Councillor Heidt More >
Garden/Granny/Garage Suites – Council Discussion
Feb 8th
I was able to catch the discussion around the information item from the Municipal Planning Commission regarding garden/granny/garage suites (PDF file) at City Council this evening (February 8, 2010).
Despite the conclusions of some, community consultation over the process has indicated “broad support” for the idea of garden/granny suites, though many of those in support want to see additional clarification of the governing guidelines.
Two speakers presented on the issue (a gentleman I did not catch the name of and Mark Bobins, president Nutana Comm. Assoc.). Mark Bobins in particular put forward a good argument in favour of garden suites but with the caveat that the City undertake a broader development of an urban densification/infill policy. Mr. Bobins went further to suggest that the policy include provisions that ensure any garden suites are designed to conform with the ‘character’ of existing neighbourhoods.
In questioning the administration, Councillor Penner raised concerns that the administration would move ahead with demonstration suites before conducting further consultation and policy development. His concerns were alleviated with the admission that more consultation would indeed be undertaken and that the building of the proposed demonstration suites was not yet decided given the costs involved.
Councillor Paulsen raised concerns regarding the idea of More >
NIMBYism alive and well in Hampton Village…
Dec 21st
Granted this article only interviews one resident of Hampton Village, I’d like to think he is in the minority on this one.
City Council will consider an application to re-zone a small portion of land in Hampton Village from RMTN to RMTN1, which basically allows for higher density development.
The quote that took me aback, and my officemate, was this (story here):
“It’s hard to say it without sounding a little snobbish. You want to live in a nice area that equals what your income is, and you don’t want to be surrounded by low-income housing. That’s why we didn’t buy something down in the Riversdale area,”
[...]
“If you look out my backyard and you see the tops of these cheap townhouses, it’s definitely going to take away. It may not hurt the value too much, but it will definitely make it harder to sell,”
I’m not sure if this gentlemen is fully aware, but Hampton Village is not a gated community and it is not merely intended for only those who can afford 500K homes. Infact, the range of zoning within Hampton Village has much more diversity than we see in most of our existing neighbourhoods, with smaller lots, and denser development. Furthermore, he More >
City Lacking in Off-Leash Parks
Mar 11th
Posted by Sean Shaw in City Council
2 comments
A few pieces of information came to my attention this past week, and coupled with two letters-to-the-editor in today’s Star Phoenix (here and here), I felt it worthy of an update.
On March 1st a group of six residents of Corman Park spoke before City Council about their wish to see off-leash dogs banned from Chief Whitecap Park (just south of the City Limits). Since 2006 Chief Whitecap has become an increasingly popular park for dog owners to let their pets off-leash, recent counts have over 1,000 users accessing it on a regular basis. (Note: my family uses CWP every weekend). One of the main attractions in the summertime is access to the river, where dogs (and people alike) are able to cool off with a quick dip.
The current Master Plan, being developed by the City, maintains a large area of CWP for off-leash users. However, both the Recreational Off-Leash Organization (ROLO) and local Corman Park residents are not happy with that current plan. ROLO would like to see more space dedicated to off-leash, while (as previously stated) local residents don’t want any off-leash area whatsoever.
Whatever the outcome of the final CWP Master Plan, the on-going debate has highlighted something that has More >