The Westbrook Communities Local Area Plan (the Plan) is now finalized and will be presented to the Infrastructure & Planning Committee on Dec. 8 for review and decision. There’s still time to review the Plan online and/or attend an information session prior to the Committee meeting:

• In-person: Monday, Nov. 7 from 6-8:30 p.m. at the Wildflower Arts Centre - 3363 Spruce Drive S.W. This is a drop-in session, no registration required.
• Virtual: Wednesday, Nov. 9 from 6:30-8 p.m. Please register.

The Westbrook Communities Local Area Plan sets the vision for the evolution of the area over the next 30 years. If adopted, it will provide direction on future development and investment that residents, landowners, builders/developers, City Planners and Councillors can commonly refer to as new development and investment ideas are proposed.

Previously announced in our October edition, Council’s approved changes to the Land Use Bylaw as of Jan. 2, 2023, will include:

• A new zoning district called Housing – Grade-Oriented (H-GO).
• Functional changes to Residential – Grade-Oriented (R-CG) to enable mid-block development.
• Aligned parking minimums across several districts.

Combined, these changes create more flexible and cost-effective opportunities to increase the supply of more diverse housing options throughout the city.

There are approximately 2,800 mid-block parcels zoned as R-CG. This means developers of multi-residential projects on these parcels can skip the rezoning process and go straight to submitting a Development Permit application. With an average approval time of 90 days, developers will save significant time and resources securing approval.
 
For parcels in existing multi-residential zones, Council also approved Land Use changes to simplify, standardize and reduce the minimum parking requirement from 1.25 stalls per unit to 0.625 stalls per unit. This reduces construction costs and provides more space and flexibility to design buildings that fit the context of the street and meet the needs of your target customers.
 
For more information about our development process and applications, please see our hub site. For more details on the Land Use Bylaw changes, please visit calgary.ca/housingchoice.

The City’s proposal to modernize its public hearing notifications on planning matters was approved by Council this week.
 
Planning matters have traditionally been advertised in The Calgary Herald newspaper. With Council’s approval of a new digital advertising bylaw, planning matters will instead be advertised on calgary.ca/planningmatters. We’ll employ additional channels to help get the word out, such as posting on social media, publishing in community association newsletters and emailing The Federation of Calgary Communities and Councillor offices.
 
The transition out of print media will be gradual. We’ll continue publishing ads in the Calgary Herald until late spring or summer 2023, while adopting new digital channels. The constant through it all will be signs posted on development sites and letters to adjacent property owners – those means of notification are not changing.  
 
For more information about this and planning matters that go before Council, please visit calgary.ca/planningmatters. 

A business licence for home-based child care providers will be required effective Jan. 1, 2023. This is a new licence created to ensure minimum standards are in place to protect the health and safety of children in home-based child care.
 
Stay connected as more information about the licence requirements becomes available. Sign up to receive updates, and/or register to attend our next webinar: Licensing your Home-based child care business on Nov. 21, 6-6:30 p.m.

The 2022 edition of our Calgary Climate Symposium earned a 95% satisfaction rating from attendees who completed the feedback survey.  
 
The symposium, Oct. 24-28, explored how climate change affects Calgarians through a variety of themes, the importance of addressing climate issues for our city’s success in the future, and tangible actions we can all take today to contribute to that success.
 
We’re grateful to Keynote speaker Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson) of the Gitxsan Nation and Prairie Climate Centre, the 42 presenters who delivered 14 sessions, and the more than 1,000 individuals who attended at least one session. We also appreciate our partners who made the event possible. Thank you all.
 
An impressive 63% of attendee survey respondents agreed they are more likely to personally act and support others’ climate actions after attending the symposium.
 
Verbatim comments on key takeaways reinforced the value of attending. Here’s a few of our favourites.

• The City of Calgary is doing an excellent job of preparing for climate change.
• I enjoyed seeing municipal policy discussions through an Indigenous lens. The reminder of Calgary's history and context is important in future decision making.
• Calgary appears to be taking this seriously and there is a lot of work underway in the background. Appreciate that we as a collective are including Indigenous people and Indigenous ways of knowing in the process and conversations.
• I shared the Climate Ready Home Guide as it was applicable to a wider audience than just in Calgary.
• This was just a fantastic event. I particularly enjoyed learning about the pace in which we need to roll out retrofits in order to hit targets. 
• The session was well organized and executed with a lot of information. I will take away the knowledge that The City of Calgary has made a commitment to Climate Change. And we have hired passionate and qualified individuals to help meet our commitments.

All sessions were recorded so if you missed any, they’ll be posted to our City of Calgary YouTube channel early next week.

We’ve improved our online Inspections Booking System to make it easier for homeowners to schedule and manage inspections. Inspections are required to ensure the work done through a building, electrical or plumbing permit meets code and functions properly.

Use your myID account to book an inspection to complete your project with assurance that your home improvements are safe for you and your family.  

On Nov. 8, The City will post the proposed Service Plans and Budgets for the next four years. Review them then on calgary.ca/YourServices. Council will deliberate the proposals and make its decisions Nov. 21-25.  
 
The plans and budgets reflect public input gathered between February and September this year. The latest What We Heard report will also be available on Nov. 8. There’s one more opportunity to be heard:

• Submit written remarks for Council’s consideration
• Register to speak to Council on Nov. 22

Complete the form at calgary.ca/PublicSubmission by Nov. 21 for either of these final opportunities. 

Calgary is poised for a second and third successive year of positive economic growth in 2022 and 2023. The primary takeaway is better economic performance in Calgary and other Alberta communities in 2022 and 2023, when compared with most regions across Canada.
 
Population, jobs and economic activity are all expected to grow substantially despite a sharp increase in the cost of living. Visit calgary.ca/economicoutlook for further details.

The third set of video stories in our No Average Calgarian campaign focuses on the need for affordable housing in Calgary. The stories feature three local organizations working with The City to provide safe and reliable housing to individuals and families.

• HomeSpace Society and Inn From the Cold, who partnered to convert a vacant downtown office into a hub where families in need have access to shelter and support services, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, and services like childcare all in one place.
• Trellis Society, which provides lodging and support services to youth who are experiencing chronic homelessness, helping them learn how to live independently and achieve their goals. 

The campaign takes a deep storytelling approach to share stories from our citizens related to themes we know, through research, are important to Calgarians. The videos and additional materials are available at calgary.ca/respond. 

Alberta Municipalities, lthe designated adminstrator for the Clean Energy Improvement Program (CEIP), is still building its list of qualified contractors to work on home energy improvement projects.

We're expecting to launch our CEIP here in Calgary before year end. Recruiting additional contractors to serve participating homeowners is the next big step in preparing to launch the program.

Eligible improvement categories include HVAC, renewable energy, lighting, water heating, doors, windows and insulation.

If you’re interested in being added to the Qualified Contractors list, visit the contractors’ section on the Alberta Municipalities CEIP website.