Edmonton city council votes against infill unit cap

After one of the longest public hearings at Edmonton City Hall, which was a lengthy and testy public hearing over Edmonton’s zoning bylaw, city leaders barely voted against a change to the zoning bylaw that would have capped the number of units in mid-block infill housing from six down to eight, in a tight vote, with only 11 councillors present.

Councillor and mayoral candidate Tim Cartmell put a video out on Monday calling out his council colleagues over the seemingly never-ending zoning discussion, saying he would not attend Tuesday’s meeting because he is on vacation with poor connectivity.

“It is not administration’s fault that we have this build-up, it is council’s because council can’t get through the work, because people are not coming to a meeting prepared to make a decision and move on,” Cartmell explained.

But Tuesday at Edmonton City Hall, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi fired back, saying although the public hearing went long and pushed into councillors’ scheduled summer break, clearing space on the schedule to discuss civic issues is part of the job.

“I adjusted my schedule, other council members adjusted their schedules, and council members who are unable to be present are adjusting their schedules to participate,” said Mayor Sohi.

When it comes to deciding on what limits to put on infill housing council deliberated for days over whether or not the number of units in a mid-block infill home should be capped at six, down from eight. 

Councillor Aaron Paquette reminded his colleagues and others, there are people directly impacted by council decisions.

“If this is what the public’s hearing, we kind of owe it to them to pump the brakes and hear this out. What this doesn’t address is the anxiety that people have, and it doesn’t address the limbo that your neighbour, who’s a contractor, has,” said Paquette.

The outcome of the vote may have been different had councillors Sarah Hamilton and Cartmell been present. Both said they had previous plans for their summer break that could not be changed, with the late decision Friday to extend the meeting this week, rather than delaying the vote until the end of summer.