On Monday 26th February, Edmonton City Council approved the DC2 rezoning application for the proposed four-story apartment building at 76 Ave and 115 St.
The minutes and video from this meeting can be found here:
https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/council_committee_meetings/city-council-public-hearing-agendas-minutes.aspx
The BCL and community members made several presentations arguing, among other things, that the building should be moved further back from 76 Ave to improve protection of the trees, reduce massing over the sidewalk, align the building with others on the avenue, and provide more ground-level front yard space for family-oriented units.
The rezoning application was discussed in Council for over four hours, and several Councillors paid close attention to our arguments and discussed modifications that would address our concerns. In the end, however, the building’s dimensions and placement on the lot were left unchanged.
Several minor amendments to the rezoning application were approved, representing small victories for the community. More detail was added about the energy efficiency technologies to be featured in the building. A bicycle storage facility on the main floor was added. A “good neighbour agreement” will be drafted with BCL input, which will include descriptions of construction practices. The developer made verbal commitments about efforts to protect the trees and the use of high-quality, attractive materials on the façade facing 76 Ave, although no further details on these issues were added to the rezoning application.
Many members of the BCL board and the community devoted hours of their time to our efforts to change the zoning application, by delivering flyers, meeting with members of City Council, preparing presentations to Council, analyzing the trees and ways to protect them, and attending yesterday’s marathon hearing. We can only hope that the impression we made will improve our leverage with Council and developers on future projects.