Calgarians of Ward 11 rallied against the City of Calgary’s blanket rezoning changes Saturday morning at Glenmore Park.
Organizers were expecting a couple of hundred people to show up and let the council know that rezoning does not work for all communities.
After city council voted in favour of the proposal for citywide rezoning in May, there has been vocal opposition to its passing.
A court challenge was made weeks after the proposal was approved, and a housing development in the southeast Queensland area was trashed after residents complained.
Ron, a long-time resident of Maple Ridge in SE Calgary, is concerned about the city’s proposed changes.
With over thirty years of experience in the community, he feels that the alterations may disrupt the neighbourhood’s established character and harmony.
“This was my retirement home. And right now there’s an application to put up fourplexes right across the back alley of my home. I’ll say about 30 feet away and that’ll be looking right down into my backyard which I re-done and right into my kitchen window and I don’t think it’s very fair,” he told CityNews.
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Ron and many other residents disagree with the city’s plan to allow townhomes or row homes to be built in most communities alongside single-family homes and duplexes.
“We have clearly told them that we don’t want it,” said Calista Wintrip, a Riverbend community member.
“That decision has not been final yet even though they approved it back in May, we still have a voice and that voice matters and that’s why we are here talking about it, gathering and we want them to know that it has to change and the rezoning needs to stop.”
Ward 11 community members are accusing city council of making a decision they believe goes against the majority’s wishes.
“I’ve never seen a council like this. That is so disrespectful. Unresponsive to the wishes of their constituents. These are the people that elected them,” said Guy Buchanan, a Kelvin Grove community member.
“We saw at the public hearing for the blanket redistricting that 70 per cent of the people that either appeared to the public hearing or wrote in were totally against blanket densification. And yet, this council ignored them.”
These residents claim the proposed rezoning will not effectively address the pressing issue of affordable housing.
Instead, they believe it could worsen existing challenges such as insufficient parking, limited recreational spaces, and heightened safety concerns.