Development and Infill
If you have an Open House or would like to share your development, please email the Planning Director by clicking this Contact link.
City of Edmonton Zoning Bylaw 2024
Edmonton City Council passed a new Zoning Bylaw on October 23, 2023, that came into effect on January 1, 2024: zoningbylaw.edmonton.ca/home.
Riverdale Community League has hosted public meetings on this topic, the last one on March 25, 2024, when a City Planner presented how a new District Plan might affect Riverdale. One local resident wondered whether or not it was wise to increase density in a flood plain.
The number of speakers at City Council in October ran into the hundreds; about fifty per cent supported the new bylaw, and fifty per cent were against it. The new zoning bylaw is set up to increase density in the city, especially within the Anthony Henday circle. The new zoning bylaw takes a one-size-fits-all approach. For example, up to eight units will be allowed on a lot in the middle of the block in any neighbourhood. Allowable building heights have been increased.
Later in spring 2024, the City Council will deliberate on District Plans. The City plans to retire the Riverdale Area Redevelopment Plan (1994) and replace it with a District Plan. The city is divided into 16 districts, and Riverdale is to be in the Central District, which covers several neighbourhoods in central Edmonton, including the downtown. The District Plans (16 different districts for Edmonton) are policy documents: https://www.edmonton.ca/sites/default/files/public-files/District-Policy-2024.pdf that outline where development should occur in the city. The primary purpose of the District Plan is to show where increased density is desirable.
Valley Line LRT
City-Owned Lots on 92 Street
102 Ave and 92 Street Area
On April 30, 2018, City Council's Executive Committee passed the following motion:
Affordable Housing on City-owned Site in Riverdale
That Administration provide a report on options and feasibility for affordable housing, in consultation with the community and affordable housing providers, on the Riverdale City-owned site outlined in the April 30, 2018, Financial and Corporate Services report CR_5600.
The Motion is directed to the City’s Financial and Corporate Services department, and is “Due by: Nov. 15, 2018.” We understand that the City Administrator in charge of the file is Tim McCargar (contact info below).
The minutes of the Executive Committee meeting, incl. video, can be found here (click on agenda item 7.1). There is also a report on p. 4 in the June issue of The Riverdalian.
For further background on the topic, including reference to the Riverdale Area Redevelopment Plan, please click to view a slide presentation:
From the Riverdale Area Redevelopment Plan:
There are few areas in the Riverdale ARP that discuss the opportunity of these sites. These are excerpts from the document, which should be read in its entirety.
Section 3.5 Predevelopment Requirements for City-owned Lands
Objectives: Prepare City-owned lands for residential development by dealing with legal, administrative and environmental constraints to development.
Policy 3.5.1 The City will take the following steps to ensure that City-owned lands, not required for municipal purposes, are available for development: (i) transfer surplus City-owned lands to the inventory of the Planning and Development Department for sale or lease;
Section 3.7 Development Opportunities for Affordable Housing
Objectives: To continue to provide the opportunity for low cost affordable housing to be built in Riverdale in a manner consistent with the objectives and policies of this Plan.
Policy 3.7.1 The City Housing Commission will hold the property shown on Map 5 for the provision of low cost affordable housing until December 31, 1995.
Policy 3.7.2 The City will continue to maintain and rent existing City owned houses in Riverdale, as shown on Map 5, until the end of their economic life. After this time, the feasibility of redeveloping these properties for affordable housing will be examined.
6 lots marked with an X
Tim McCargar
DIRECTOR
CIVIC PROPERTY SERVICES
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT | REAL ESTATE
780-496-1543 (OFFICE)
tim.mccargar@edmonton.ca
There is an ad hoc committee of the league that is helping with community consultation and the feasibility investigation on this site.
Their contact information is as follows:
Donna Koziak donnak@athabascau.ca
Lynn Hannley lhannley@communitas.ca
Mike Cooper gmcooper@telusplanet.net
Raquel Feroe rferoe@gmail.com
Jodine Chase jchase@mediaworkswest.com
You may also contact the League's Planning Directors or President via the Contact page.
On April 27, 2018, the Committee held a public engagement event. Responses by community members can be read here:
On July 26, league representatives met with Tim McCargar to get an update about community engagement process that is part of the April 30 Executive Committee motion.
City Admin has developed a public engagement Strategy and shared it with us on September 7, 2018. We collected your input into the strategy until September 30th. On October 1, 2018, league members met with City Admin to provide input into the strategy, including your questions and comments.
The City held an Information Session on January 26, 2019 and a Public Engagement Session on February 2, 2019. The result of this consultation with the Riverdale Community is the Riverdale Redevelopment Opportunity - Expression of Interest Package, directed at potential developers of the City-owned properties on 92nd Street.
In April 2018, City administration was directed by City Council's Executive Committee to prepare a report on options and feasibility of affordable housing on the City-owned lots. The report was published mid-November ahead of the November 18th Executive Committee meeting, where it was to be discussed.
The report states that affordable housing on the lots is feasible and gives a brief overview of five applications administration received in response to the Expression of Interest they published last spring. Discussion of the report - and hence the fate of the lots - has been postponed to the Executive Committee on January 13th, 2020. The meeting is open to the public.
For more information, contact one of the League’s Planning Directors.
Dawson Park & Kinnaird Ravine Master Plan
Riverdale Community League, in January 2018, passed a motion that established an ad hoc committee to work with the city on improving the master plan.
The Master Plan was approved by the City of Edmonton Administration in 2019. The Dawson Park Master Plan recommendations for 25 to 50 million dollars worth of changes to Dawson Park have not been put forward or approved by the Edmonton City Council.
The Committee developed a draft brief about the plan, and invited and incorporated community feedback until Oct 1, 2018. The revised, final draft is posted below. It represents the committee’s findings and evaluation of the master plan.
At the league meeting on Oct 1, we passed this motion: “That the League allow the Board to have the authority to approve the submission of the final Brief to the City of Edmonton, for the purpose of information sharing, on the League’s behalf.” The board had a week to read the brief and 3 days to consider the voting question. That question was: "I approve the submission of the final brief prepared by the Dawson Park/Kinnaird Ravine Committee, as is, to the City of Edmonton, for the purpose of information sharing, on the League’s behalf." The vote was very close but the motion was defeated, which means that board approval (on behalf of the league) is not granted. The brief will be sent to Councillor McKeen from the committee alone, and the league president has sent a separate letter on behalf of the league.
For update on Tree Frog redevelopment please visit the developer’s (TLA) website.