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Choosing Directions for Planning and Developing Edmonton in the Future. Information Update May, 2000
Planning and Development
LIBRARY The City of Edmonton
Introduction
Pg. 1
Updating The Bylaw
Pg. 2
Annexed Lands
Pg. 3
Operative/Administrative Sections
Pg. 5
General Regulations/Special Provisions
Pg. 7
Parking And Loading
Pg. 9
Signs
Pg. 11
Conventional Districts
Pg. 11
Direct Control Districts
Pg. 13
Statutory Plan Overlays And Special Area Districts
Pg. 15
Managing Land Use & Development Services
Pg. 16
Process Review
Pg. 17
Information Delivery
Pg. 18
Zoning Innovations
Pg. 19
Industrial Zone
Pg. 20
Industrial Plan Preparation
Pg. 21
Mature Neighbourhoods Residential Zoning
Pg. 23
Next Steps
Pg. 25
For Further Information
Pg. 26
City of Edmonton Planning and Development
IN •D T *14 The City of Edmonton Planning and Development Department is reviewing the Land Use (Zoning) Bylaw. In 1999, eight roundtable sessions were held with key stakeholder groups representing Communities, Builders and Developers. At this time ideas regarding the review of the Bylaw were tested with stakeholders. Their direction was clear: Streamline and Update the Bylaw
— There was no appetite for a complete rewrite of the Bylaw, stakeholders recommended that Planning & Development build on the current foundation and only change that which was necessary. In short: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
Improve Customer Service
Stakeholders were clear that the Department should look for opportunities to enhance customer service wherever possible. As a civic department, designed to serve Edmontonians, stakeholders were clear that the Department should take a service-centred approach to doing business While maintaining a balance between the needs of applicants and the rights of surrounding property owners. —
Take Care with Zoning Innovations — While the group was interested in seeing the
Department look for innovative solutions to planning and zoning challenges, their direction was to ground all decisions in Plan Edmonton (the Municipal Development Plan) and to allow for flexibility and ongoing adaptation to societal changes within the Bylaw. With these messages from the stakeholders in hand, the Planning and Development Department began the technical review of the Bylaw. The work on the Bylaw review has fallen into three distinct streams: 1. Updating the Bylaw. 2. Managing land/use and development services. 3. Zoning innovations. Within these categories, the projects have been further broken down to specific Bylaw segments. As promised in the last round of stakeholder consultation sessions, the Planning & Development Department has undertaken specific, technical changes in each category. These are described in the next sections of this information piece.
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The projects within this category have all been approached with some core principles in mind, these are:
A The need to have a Bylaw which meets the demands of a complex city in the new millennium.
A An acknowledgement that the world has changed considerably since 1980. A The removal of duplication. A The removal of redundancy (e.g. another piece of legislation deals with the issue). A The use of plain language. A The review of all ad hoc and temporary additions made to the Bylaw over the last twenty years to ensure that the additions fit and are consistent with the rest of the Bylaw.
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Project Leader:
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Rod Heinricks
Goal:
To incorporate the area of the City known as the "annexed lands" into the new Edmonton Zoning Bylaw.
Key Stakeholders:
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Individual property owners.
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Industrial/business associations.
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Neighbouring municipalities.
Key Areas of Change/Revision:
Outlying areas were annexed by the City of Edmonton in 1981, but remained outside of the City's current Land Use (Zoning) Bylaw. To update this patchwork system of regulations, the new Edmonton Zoning Bylaw has incorporated these annexed areas into the Bylaw. To achieve this, the Planning and Development Department: •
Conducted a comparative analysis of Edmonton's Land Use (Zoning) Bylaw against the relevant County's regulations.
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Analyzed existing legislation that may impact strategy (i.e. Municipal Government Act (MGA), Plan Edmonton, Intensive Livestock Legislation, Area Structure Plans (ASPs), etc.).
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Determined which of the City of Edmonton zones are most like annexed areas and applied them.
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Reviewed Plan Edmonton and any Area Structure Plan to clarify areas where translation is not clear cut.
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Implications of Change: The result of these efforts is a new Edmonton Zoning Bylaw which converts the previous county regulations into the City of Edmonton's zoning framework. This new, blended approach is an improvement over the current system and it enhances the City's and the public's ability to navigate and administer the Bylaw. Historical circumstances assures that some challenges to a "pure" translation will require additional attention. Several of these situations conflict with the direction of Plan Edmonton and will require special consideration. Opportunities for country residential development will continue but will be reduced from present numbers. With regard to country residential areas, a balance will be struck with Plan Edmonton. Country residential areas will be legitimized where they currently legally exist, but opportunities for continued proliferation will be removed. For example, further to the adoption of the new Bylaw, intensive livestock operations of feedlots will not be allowed within the City of Edmonton. Existing operations of this nature will remain legal where they are in existence, however proposed developments must conform to the new Bylaw.
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Project Leader: Mark Garrett
Goal:
To improve the readability and accessibility of the Operative, Interpretative and General Administrative clauses of the Bylaw.
Key Stakeholders:
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Development officers and staff of the Planning and Development Department.
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The Subdivision and Development Appeal Board.
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Developers.
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General members of the public.
Key Areas of Change/Revision:
Here the emphasis is on meeting customers needs, streamlining operations, avoiding duplication and reducing the clutter within the new Bylaw. To this end: •
Notices will all be sent by mail and notices will only be sent when discretion has been used to make the decisions.
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All references to, and duplication of, other legislation have been removed from the Bylaw.
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"Common sense" phrasing and descriptions have been included in the Bylaw.
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Language has been updated to reflect modern terminology.
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Implications of Change: A significant change in this section of the Bylaw is the way in which zoning documents categorize restaurants. To clarify these descriptions, four new definitions of restaurants were created: (i) places that do not serve alcohol; (ii) those that serve alcohol but don't have minor age restrictions; (iii) those with minor restrictions; and (iv) entertainment establishments. At the present time, notices are placed in the newspaper for some "permitted uses" and notices are mailed to individual surrounding property owners when discretion is used. The new Bylaw proposes to eliminate the placing of ads in the newspaper. This new communications approach is recommended because the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board only has jurisdiction over discretion and the goal is to have enhanced information about all developments on the Planning & Development Department website as a result of the Information Delivery project, so that particular notices will not be necessary.
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Project Leader: Scott Pragnell
Goal: To review and update the General Regulations and the Special Land Use Provisions sections of Edmonton Land Use (Zoning) Bylaw and to incorporate these sections into the new Edmonton Zoning Bylaw.
Key Stakeholders: •
Development officers.
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Development industry.
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Land development, urban design and building industry organizations and associations.
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Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues.
Key Areas of Change/Revision: The general regulations provide an easy place to put rules in the Bylaw that affect all development regardless of the zone applied to a parcel of land. The review of these sections was conducted with the following principles in mind: •
Fix identified problems.
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Remove unnecessary regulations.
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Simplify regulations.
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Implications of Change: Because the general regulations are so specific the implications for change are varied. Some examples are: • New and more easily understood provisions on height. • Updates to landscaping provisions. • New provisions regarding churches.
City of Edmonton Planning and Development
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PARKING AND LOADING (4A) Project Leader: Joannes Wong
Goal:
To prepare a revised set of parking and loading requirements which address known problems and will serve future development needs.
Key Stakeholders:
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Property owners.
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The business community.
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Community groups.
Key Areas of Change/Revision:
Areas of change are varied and specific. Some examples include: •
Increased parking requirements for religious assemblies.
• Changes to parking requirements for restaurants. • Changes to some of the dimensions of parking lots and loading areas.
Implications of Change:
A good deal of work was done on the parking and loading standards in the mid 1990s and most uses where updated at that time. In addition, bicycle parking was introduced then. However, some difficult issues were left unresolved. The changes proposed now complete those difficult items and where changes occur they generally lead to increased parking requirements.
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SIGNS (5A) Project Leader: Tim Beauchamp
Goal:
To establish a clearer set of regulations and guidelines, which will be simpler to read and interpret.
Key Stakeholders:
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Sign industry.
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The business community.
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General public.
Key Areas of Change/Revision:
Proposed regulations define signs as having one of three possible uses: •
On premise signs.
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Off premise signs.
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Temporary signs.
Implications of Change:
This fundamental change will place signs in the same category as other land uses and will give them all permitted or discretionary uses. The changes will also remove any provisions that regulate the message on a sign and will instead focus on the physical sign itself. There will be less regulations but they will be clearer and more defensible.
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Project Leader: Mark Lawrence
Goal:
To review and refine the Conventional Land Use Zones with the aim of creating a healthy, sustainable urban environment.
Key Stakeholders:
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Home builders.
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Urban Development Institute.
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Architects.
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Engineers.
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Community members.
Key Areas of Change/Revision:
The team was guided by the following considerations: •
Promote strategies to implement Plan Edmonton.
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Promote strategies to limit the external impacts of development.
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Promote strategies that protect health and safety.
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Provide clear and simple zones which recognize the need for regulation while recognizing the reasonable aspirations of land owners.
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Implications of Change: Changes to the Conventional Zones are varied and specific. Some examples are: •
Some consolidation of zones.
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Some additional uses to zones to reduce the use of Direct Control.
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Special study of small lot housing.
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Changes to some Commercial Zones to promote a pedestrian environment.
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Project Leader: Mark Hall
Goal:
To review each of the five Direct Control Districts, in order to streamline, delete, reduce or consolidate existing opportunities for the use of this direct control approach.
Key Stakeholders:
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Development officers.
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Developers/property owners.
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Urban Development Institute.
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Communities.
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Affected landowners.
Key Areas of Change/Revision:
The present Bylaw has five different provisions, ranging from DC1 to DC5. This project recommends: •
Reducing the number of Direct Control Provisions from five to two.
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Restricting the use of Direct Control to the actual project that is being proposed.
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Incorporating as many of the existing (over 600) Direct Control Provisions as possible within Conventional Zones.
City of Edmonton Planning and Development
Implications of Change: Developers must now have a tangible project planned in order to receive a DC provision. As well, more detailed plans will be required for presentation in order to be granted a zoning go-ahead. Efforts will be made to translate Direct Control Districts into Conventional Zones, with attention given to protecting the special considerations which fall within many DC provisions.
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STATUTORY PLAN OVERLAYS AND SPECIAL AREA DISTRICTS 8A Project Leader: Peter Ohm
Goal:
To review the statutory plan overlays and Special Area Districts and eliminate, reduce, simplify, and/or improve Sections 800 through 920.
Key Stakeholders:
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Community groups.
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Federal and Provincial governments.
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Property owners.
Key Areas of Change/Revision:
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Consolidate as many overlays as possible.
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Make overlays more generic and "off-the-shelf' rather than area specific.
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Make overlays as consistent with each other as possible.
Implications of Change:
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General reduction.
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Mature districting overlay is implemented and several local overlays are repealled.
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A "neo-traditional" overlay is being developed for suburban development (e.g. Terwillegar Towne) which will provide an "off-the-shelf' package for developers wishing to build a particular kind of development in response to building and lifestyle trends.
City of Edmonton Planning and Development
MANAGING LAND USE & DEVELOPMENT SERVICES The community's direction was clear in this area — create a customer-focused culture within the Planning & Development Department. The following principles were central to the review of this section of the Bylaw:
A Enhanced customer service. AL Significantly improving the accessibility to, and the quality of, information.
A Streamlining the number of administrative steps in any given zoning procedure. A Seeking opportunities for parallel processes. A Clarification of responsibilities. A Improving readability of documents.
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Project Leader: Greg Barker
Goal:
To review and recommend improvements to the Planning & Development processes within the City of Edmonton. This is driven by a need to: •
Upgrade customer service.
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Improve the effectiveness of processes.
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Clarify policy implementation.
Key Stakeholders:
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Direct clients.
Key Areas of Change/Revision:
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Conducting a "best practices" review to determine how other municipalities handle their work.
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Testing of new systems with real applications (i.e. trial applications to review enhancements).
Implications of Change:
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A new "road map" to Planning & Development will be developed and placed in many locations so that the planning process is transparent and accessible.
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The possibility of using parallel processes to speed up applications is being considered.
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Enhanced customer service training has been undertaken by Planning & Development and will continue to be a focus.
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Project Leader: Jim Guthrie
Goal:
To improve the access that decision-makers, applicants and the general public have to information.
Key Stakeholders:
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Decision-makers (development officers, planners).
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Direct clients (consultants, architects, home builders).
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General public.
Key Areas of Change/Revision:
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Place all required regulations, statutory plans and land use policies on the desktops of decision-makers in a linked format.
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Make all regulations, statutory plans and land use policies available on the Web for interested applicants.
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Offer further information and explanation of Planning & Development information to the general public.
Implications of Change:
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Redundancies have been eliminated in many of the materials, enabling information to flow more easily and with greater clarity to the general public.
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The project has created a clear "road map" for the public to follow when in search of relevant information. This will greatly enhance the transparency of Planning & Development's processes.
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More accurate neighbourhood information will be available, either through census or assessment, to provide people with tools to understand their neighbourhood.
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The community made it clear that innovations needed to be treated cautiously. In considering innovations, Planning & Development has:
A Followed the direction laid out by Plan Edmonton. A Developed a framework for a new single Industrial District and Industrial Plan. A Implemented existing regulations relative to mature districts. A Reviewed best practices in other jurisdictions.
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Project Leader: Stefan Fekner
Goal: To create one Industrial Zone that will replace the existing Industrial Zones.
Key Stakeholders: •
Developers.
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Land owners.
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Business associations.
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Business owners.
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Industry associations.
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Economic Development Edmonton.
Key Areas of Change/Revision: •
Create one performance-based Industrial Zone to replace the five existing Industrial Zones, to be used in conjunction with the new form of industrial plan.
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Adapt to industrial trends and needs.
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Streamline the implementation of permit approvals and appeals.
Implications of Change: The single Industrial Zone will: •
Promote greater use of prime industrial sites for greater employment and other economic benefits.
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Allow businesses to have greater land use flexibility to adapt successfully to market and technology changes.
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Provide "one-stop shopping" for Industrial Zone development approvals.
City of Edmonton Planning and Development
Project Leader: James Seltz
Goals: To: •
Create a new framework that links industrial planning with the new industrial zoning model.
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Initiate and complete one new industrial plan that utilizes the new Industrial Zone.
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Establish a strategy capable of applying the new industrial plan model to all industrial areas throughout the city.
Key Stakeholders: •
Developers.
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Land owners.
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Business associations.
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Business owners.
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Industry associations.
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Economic Development Edmonton.
Key Areas of Change/Revision: •
Will provide a policy framework to guide development over a long period of time.
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Will introduce in policy form City objectives related to such things as risk, servicing and economic development.
City of Edmonton Planning and Development
Implications of Change:
The new form of Industrial Plan will improve the way the City and industrial developers deal with constraints to economic development at a policy level in terms of: •
Servicing.
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Appearance.
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Management of risk.
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MATURE NEIGHBOURHOODS RESIDENTIAL • Project Leader: Scott Pragnell
Goal:
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To promote the renewal and sustainability of mature neighbourhoods through sensitive infill development; and to attract new investment while entrenching community character.
Key Stakeholders:
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Greater Edmonton Home Builders' Association.
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Neighbourhoods with current RF1 to RF5 overlays.
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Inner City neighbourhoods generally.
Key Areas of Change/Revision:
The resulting new regulations will: •
Implement the principles of the existing overlays.
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Apply to specific mature residential lands and river valley.
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Represent the spirit of "best practice".
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Comply with statutory plans.
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Remove the need for existing overlays in seven separate communities.
City of Edmonton Planning and Development
Implications of Change: •
Improved compatibility between new and existing housing within older, established neighbourhoods.
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Preservation of existing streetscapes by requiring use of existing lanes.
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Providing a process that encourages talking to neighbours before making certain kinds of applications.
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The process of developing a new Bylaw is nearing completion. These next steps outline the timelines for project completion: •
Input to Bylaw update
May/June 2000
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Draft Bylaw update and further stakeholder input
July 1, 2000
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New industrial zone
July 1, 2000
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Prototype of industrial plan
October, 2000
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Public hearing on new Bylaw
November, 2000
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Communicate new Bylaw to Edmontonians
December, 2000 and beyond
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The Bylaw update is being managed by the following members of the Planning & Development Department: Updating the Bylaw — Willard Hughes Phone: 496-6223 Fax: 496-8450 E-mail: willard.hughes@gov.edmonton.ab.ca Managing Land Use & Development Services — Mark Garrett Phone: 496-6090 Fax: 496-6028 E-mail: mark.garrett@gov.edmonton.ab.ca Zoning Innovations — Brian Kropft Phone: 496-6092 Fax: 496-6028 E-mail: brian.kropf@gov.edmonton.ab.ca Please contact any of the above if you have questions about this project.
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