Calgary is days away from the largest public hearing in the city’s history, with hundreds of speakers lined up and thousands of written submissions counted.
The hearing on the Land Use Amendment Citywide, or ‘Blanket Rezoning,’ will begin on Monday, but will likely be extended over multiple days due to the large amount of registered public speakers.
The city says more than 650 speakers have registered and they have received more than 5,500 written submissions as of Thursday afternoon.
The hearing kicks off at 9:30 a.m. Monday and will run until for 12 hours until 9:30 p.m. Council will vote determine that start times for the following days, but the city says the hearing will still end at 9:30 p.m. each day.
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The issue of city-wide rezoning has proved to be divisive. Lee Stevens with the Social Policy Collaborative recently penned a joint letter, along with 17 organizations, who are in favour of the proposal.
“Anything that can enable different types of homes, and more affordable homes, and anything that is going to enable developers to build homes faster, we are going to be in support of,” she says.
A recent report from the city found that 70 per cent of people surveyed are not in favor of the idea, with many expressing concerns about the impact it could have on their community.
A joint letter signed by more than 40 community associations in Calgary urged council to vote against the measure, saying it won’t supply more affordable non-market housing options.
A protest is scheduled for outside of City Hall on the first day of the hearing.
Any resident looking speak or make a written submission can still register online. The meeting will be livestreamed on the city’s website.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek will be appearing live on CityNews 660 at 7:50 a.m. Friday morning to talk about blanket rezoning. You can listen live here.