Infill housing density debate continues at Edmonton City Hall this week

The debate around rezoning and infill housing is heating up at Edmonton City Hall this week, and it’s not over yet, with more public hearings.

But while council grapples with limits on infill housing, some Edmontonians want to see much more. 

“The house next door, I believe valued for a million dollars, I probably wouldn’t be able to afford it, if I wanted to live here, but thanks to the six-plex that we designed and built, I could have a home here,” said Samuel Rad, who lives in a six-plex in the Ritchie Neighbourhood.

Rad designed and built an infill home in the Ritchie neighbourhood — just south of Edmonton’s Whyte Avenue — and there are six other families living on the property.

He showed off his home on the same day he spoke to city council, saying that while he understands concerns from those already living in the city’s mature neighbourhoods about how multi-unit infill housing could negatively impact a neighbourhood.

Rad wants to see more infill like his, which was purposely designed to fit the look of the area, but that would require the city to require developers to do so at the design and permitting phase.

“It’s not the neighbours, it’s not the tenants, it’s not the designers or builders — I think it’s the city that needs to say, ‘Hey, we’re creating a beautiful city, let’s create beautiful buildings,'” said Rad.

Earlier this week, a motion put forward by councillor and mayoral candidate Tim Cartmell to halt infill development until there’s more consultation was ruled “out of order” by fellow councillors.

Cartmell said he feels it’s needed.

“It’s the neighbourhoods with the highest property values that are seeing this, as opposed to other neighbourhoods. Something is going on, and we should stop and figure out what all those details are. That’s what I’m hearing from community, and I’m trying to convey that at council, and I’m not getting support from my other councillors to acknowledge that concern,” Cartmell explained.

But Councillor Andrew Knack, who will run against Cartmell for the mayor’s office in October, says fully stopping infill will drive up property value and taxes.

“What we are hearing from people is that some want to see changes to help address some very specific concerns, and at the same time we’re hearing from people who want to see the city continue down this path of providing housing choice, affordability, how we manage our finances, because we know that how we grow as a city affects our property taxes,” said Knack.

Councillors will continue to hear from the public on Thursday and Friday.