Calgary city council passes contentious rezoning bylaw

Please go to E Scribe to vote. Council voted last night to approve the contentious blanket rezoning proposal. And if you're sick of seeing this video of council chambers, spare a thought for the mayor and counselors themselves. They'd spent more than two weeks in there talking about and listening to others talk about zoning, zoning, zoning. So what does this vote mean, and what led up to it? Well, a couple of years ago, council developed a task force on housing and affordability. And one of its recommendations was blanket rezoning. Basically, it means more types of houses, like townhomes and row houses, can be built in neighborhoods where right now only single family homes might exist. Council approved that plan last September, but before it could change the existing bylaw, it had to go through a public hearing. No pressure. No first gap out of several 1000. Not several thousand, as it turns out, but still a heck of a lot. 736 people gave counsel their two cents. City officials said 227 of those speakers supported the plan. I'm in favor of any affordable way to get a roof over my head. And my fellow Calgarians heads 458 Calgarians spoke against it about changes that would allow row houses beside me and tall buildings restricting my view of the sky. And if you're a math whiz and are now wondering about the other 51 speakers in that equation, while the officials deem their presentations as neutral, there wasn't much neutrality yesterday when council debated the proposal. Most of all, it is frustrating to hear young people with legitimate worries about how they will afford to live, convinced that this blanket rezoning will help them. I have heard no solid evidence that it will. As you might have guessed, he was a no vote. Now here's one from the yes side saying yes to citywide rezoning, yes to a newish kind of housing, and more places across all communities will actually be one of the most kind and generous things that we can do for our city. And after the votes were cast, that is carried 9 to 6, with councillors McLean, Chu, Demong, Wong, Sharp and Chabot voting against. It didn't pass in its original form, though council made more than 20 changes during the hearing. They include everything from letting people create more privacy on their properties to giving them more say on development permits. And while that marathon hearing is finally over, the bruises it left on our city could take a while to fade. More important than anything, above all else, this has been the most divisive conversation that I've ever taken part in ever since I've been on council. The idea that somehow this is just going to all blow over and it's all going to be nice, We're all going to hold hands and sing Kumbaya. I I disagree.