Zoning Bylaw Updates from City Council

As of July 8th, City Council completed its multi-day public hearing and came to a decision on proposed amendments to the Zoning Bylaw. IDEA is happy to share that the 8 unit maximum on interior lots has been maintained, something we advocated for at the hearing. There have however been other amendments passed that will impact the built form of row housing. The amendments as passed are:

  • Limiting building length to 50% of lot depth or 25 metres, whichever is less

  • Capping the number of side-facing entrances (both primary and secondary) at 2

  • Increasing side setbacks to 1.9 metres where entrances exist

  • Requiring 1.1 metres of distance between steps and the lot line when steps face the lot line (not if they face the front or rear of the building)

  • Design requirements regulating the appearance of entrances and the building facade

More details on these amendments are available here.

Council also passed an amendment to the district plan policy regarding rezonings to RSM (which can enable larger row house developments). These rezonings will now be restricted to corner lots near nodes & corridors, transit and major roadways.

Additionally, a motion was passed guiding administration to perform a comparative analysis of the relative impacts of an 8 unit vs 6 unit cap as well as other potential alternatives for regulating unit density. This report will be delivered by the first quarter of 2027.

IDEA is grateful that Council has reiterated its commitment to growing Edmonton in a sustainable and vibrant way and will continue to collaborate, engage and advocate for how infill supports people-centred communities.

Call To Action: Email your Councillor About Proposed Zoning Bylaw Amendments

Edmonton City Council’s Urban Planning Committee has brought forth multiple proposed Zoning Bylaw amendments that will go to public hearing on June 30th. These potential changes would limit the supply of new homes during a housing crisis and slow progress toward achieving our City Plan targets.

Proposed changes include:

  • Capping mid-block unit counts at 6 instead of 8

  • Building Length: Reduced to 50% of site depth or 25m (whichever is less) along interior side lot lines.

  • Side Entrances: Maximum of two entrances permitted on the side of a building abutting an interior lot line.

  • Interior Side Setbacks: Increased from 1.5m to 1.9m where side entrances exist.

  • Stairs in Side Yards: Minimum 1.1m required between steps and the side lot line (for steps facing the side).

  • Facade Design: New requirements for front-facing entrances, minimum window coverage, and articulated facades for row and multi-unit housing.

IDEA has drafted two letter templates that can be used to email your councillor and they can be found here:

Option 1

Option 2

We also highly encourage you to sign up to speak on June 30th to share how these proposed changes will impact our ability to provide homes for our growing population, hinder progress toward City Plan targets and constrain supply, making housing less affordable.

Canadian Urban Transit Association: Housing Report

Back in July, IDEA had the opportunity to engage with the Canadian Urban Transit Association to provide feedback on the role public transit and transit-oriented development sites play in addressing Canada's housing crisis. The result of that engagement can be found in CUTA's recently published report, "Housing is on the Line: How Public Transit Can Tackle Canada’s Housing Crisis."

This report provides 17 recommendations across five policy pillars, aiming to better integrate public transit and housing supply. In total, CUTA gathered insights through seven in-person engagements across the country and online sessions, involving 200 participants from government, development, and stakeholders. An advisory committee provided valuable feedback, and the recommendations were reviewed by Infrastructure Canada and the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Key recommendations included activating land around transit stations, evolving transit authorities' mandates for housing development, ensuring inclusivity, streamlining approval processes for Transit-Oriented Developments (TOD), and maximizing investments through regional collaboration.

Read the full report here and check out the video linked below released by CUTA to complement the technical report. In it, CUTA covers the five policy themes on the intersection of housing policy and transit with examples from several cities across Canada.

The Missing Middle: Your Guide to Identifying an Emerging Housing Type


You may have heard the phrase missing middle, but what, exactly, is it? 

The phrase ‘missing middle’ refers to multi-unit housing forms like duplexes, triplexes, row housing, and low-rise apartments – bridging the gap between small scale single-family homes and larger scale apartment buildings. Coined by architect and urban planner Daniel Parolek (Principal and Founder of Opticos Design Inc.), missing middle Housing was once common (think pre-World War II), but has more or less vanished over the last 60 to70 years, giving way to single detached houses and soaring apartment towers. 

Driven by consumer demand, small-scale multi-unit housing is coming back into vogue. This type of infill housing has the ability to blend relatively seamlessly into a typical mature neighbourhood, it offers a bit more affordability than a typical house, and it often boasts nearby shopping and transit, amenities that appeal to millennials and downsizing baby boomers alike.

How to Identify Missing Middle Housing

Still relatively rare, it helps to have a guide in hand to help you spot this emerging housing form.

  • It’s usually within walking distance to various amenities and services, and tends to have less on-site parking than a typical house.

  • It typically offers a small to medium-sized living area. Missing middle residents are often trading square footage for good design and a convenient location.
    - It adds housing options, but remains unobtrusive in existing neighbourhoods.

  • It tends to sell at a lower price point than single detached housing in the same area, since unit sizes are smaller.


What Makes Missing Middle Housing so Great, Anyway?

  • *Since most infill housing is situated within mature communities that are close to commercial destinations and various amenities, opportunities to use alternate transportation such as walking, cycling, or transit are more easily available. This helps reduce overall emissions within the city.

  • *Infill also encourages better utilization of existing infrastructure and services, so that city spending can be focused more on maintenance and/or upgrading costs as needed (vs continuously building new infrastructure as the city continues to expand outward).

  • *Another advantage is an increase in housing options. Whether you’re looking to upgrade, or downsize, missing middle housing provides options to stay within a neighbourhood that you love while choosing a home that best suits your needs and budget.

  • *Local businesses and community services can be sustained through increased density and usage (for example coffee shops, grocery stores, schools, recreation facilities, etc.)

The missing middle is an key form of infill. IDEA recognizes that the missing middle will help shape Edmonton into a collection of dynamic neighbourhoods. As our city grows infill will play a greater role in the redevelopment and overall sustainability of our city. We are excited to see Edmonton evolve as the missing middle takes shape. IDEA is working actively with administration and Council to promote the missing middle in Edmonton.

IDEA supports municipal budget approach to reduce subsidy on suburban growth  

Mayor Don Iveson presented his five point approach for the municipal budget on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018. He stated, "analysis shows that suburban growth has been significantly subsidized by existing tax payers and #yeg businesses. It's time to reset our approach to paying for this growth". The Infill Development in Edmonton Association (IDEA) strongly supports this approach to the budget, particularly rolling back the subsidy on suburban growth, and protecting the investments made in the city's core infrastructure. 

"At IDEA, we work to drive change toward people-centred communities. Our mission aligns with the Mayor's new vision that promotes sustainable growth. And part of the answer to sustainability is infill and redevelopment activities." says Mariah Samji, Executive Director of IDEA. 

 

"Infill is not just about developing on land in mature neighborhoods, it is also about promoting an integrated approach to transportation, infrastructure, community design and land use zoning. Infill helps to build a city that is livable, sustainable and affordable for all of us today and generations to come."

Establishing a Consistent Criteria for Quality Infill

While some would contend that no infill is good infill, we must be realistic and recognize that no city is perfect and no neighbourhood is perfect.  Infill is an opportunity for improvement.

Here are some criteria that IDEA believes will enable an infill project to improve a neighbourhood:
 

Densification

Densification is the process of adding more units to a property.  This can mean housing units, and commercial and retail spaces.  Replacing an existing older home with one new home is not densification. 

Diversity Enhancing

The project allows people to live in the neighbourhood who previously couldn’t, and for people to stay in their neighbourhood as their housing needs change.  For example:

  • Homes that are affordable for young families and new immigrants

  • Secondary suites and other rental units

  • Seniors housing that allows people to stay close to their friends and neighbours and everything they have become familiar with

  • Barrier-free housing that welcomes people with diverse mobility needs

Our neighbourhoods should reflect the rich diversity of our city.
 

Durable

The project is constructed of high quality, long lasting materials, inside and out.
 

Energy Efficient

As a result of advances in building science, improved quality of construction materials, and stricter building code requirements, new houses are more energy efficient than most of the original housing stock in mature neighbourhoods.  Net Zero Energy, PassivHaus, and other highly energy efficient projects should be encouraged.
 

Pedestrian Friendly

Many of Edmonton’s mid-century neighbourhoods were designed to be car-centric. There was little consideration for the impact of urban design on our health, our energy use, and our relationships with our neighbours.  In the intervening years we have learned that moving our houses closer to the street creates opportunities for neighbours to get to know each other and to watch out for each other.  It makes our neighbourhoods more vibrant and interesting and encourages people to walk through them.  
 

Enhanced Streetscapes

Mature trees add significant value to our mature areas, and should be preserved where possible and replaced by new trees when not.  Care should be taken to ensure that the front yard and front façade of the house improve the quality of the public space it faces.  For healthy neighbourhoods, public streetscapes must be attractive to pedestrians and enhance neighbourly relationships.

According to Vitruvius, an architect of the first century BC, a building must exhibit the three qualities of solidity, usefulness and beauty.  If our infill projects can follow these principles our mature neighbourhoods will necessarily be improved.

Updates to Volume 3 (Drainage) and Volume 4 (Water) of the City of Edmonton Design and Construction Standards

Over the past year the EPCOR, the City of Edmonton, IDEA and other industry groups have been participating in working groups tasked with updating the City of Edmonton Design and Construction Standards to align with the zones in the new zoning bylaw. IDEA would like to thank IDEA board members, Jason Cunha and Joshua Schmaltz for their involvement in this initiative. Addenda to the standards have been published to the epcor.com website (January 2, 2024) to reflect updates to Volume 3 (Drainage) and Volume 4 (Water). Please refer to the addenda at the links below:

City of Edmonton Design and Construction Standards Volume 3 – Drainage



City of Edmonton Design and Construction Standards Volume 4 - Water


These updates are the product of work between EPCOR, the development industry and the City of Edmonton. Throughout 2023, EPCOR hosted a series of consultation sessions and technical working groups with our industry partners. These engagement sessions included industry associations, consulting firms, industry business leaders and City of Edmonton planners, Fire Rescue Services, and climate adaptation professionals. The sessions focused on how best to modernize the design standards and approval processes for water consumption and sewer generation, fire flow requirements, stormwater, and green infrastructure implementation.
Through these consultation efforts, it was identified that a two-pronged approach would best meet the diverse needs of the development community. The first approach was an update of the design standards based on the new zones, recognizing that this would still be conservative, but could be updated to reflect modern water conservation and building materials, and on-site stormwater management opportunities. This approach supports developers that want to move quickly through the approval process and reduce engineering design costs.

The second approach is a new process where the developer can engage with EPCOR earlier in their planning and work collaboratively through the design assumptions for the specific requirements of the development they are proposing. This process can, for example, include discussions on where best to orient buildings with higher water consumption or higher fire flow requirements to maximize the use of existing capacity for infill developments, or reduce pipe requirements in greenfield developments.

For developments that wish to pursue the second collaborative approach to planning water and drainage infrastructure, please reach out to boundaryconditions@epcor.com early in the development process. Green infrastructure, planning for high water consuming industries,

Moving Forward

These addenda are to be followed for planning all NEW developments and associated hydraulic network analyses, neighbourhood design reports, and other water infrastructure planning instruments.

For inquiries related to how these addenda may affect EXISTING area and neighbourhood level planning, please contact One Water Planning at boundaryconditions@epcor.com. In cases where updates to plans are required, EPCOR will work with the developer to reduce the amount of additional analysis. This is especially important in cases where a lift station, pump station,booster station or reservoir is planned.

Keep an eye on IDEA’s website for more infrastructure resources from EPCOR to support your 2024 development projects!