Infill unit caps aren’t the answer, speakers tell Edmonton's urban planning committee

Edmonton's urban planning committee heard arguments from citizens on Monday both for and against rolling back some of the city's infill rules.

The feedback came as city administration recommends capping mid-block infill developments at six units instead of eight. But committee members also heard from people on both sides of the debate that they believe hard unit caps aren’t the answer. 

“A big Lego block with six units inside is the same as a big Lego block with eight units inside,” John Soltice said. 

“It is the size of the building that is the elephant in the room."

He said he was surprised changes to height allowance weren't among the recommendations made by city staff.

Jacob Dawang with the housing advocacy group Grow Together Edmonton said he thinks city council should stay the course, but also said he believes unit caps are not the right way of framing things.

“Let's not talk about how many people or the living arrangement of the inside of a home," he said. "Let's just talk about how it looks from the outside."

Siegfried Kirchner expressed concern about the height of some infill projects. The Edmontonian said his solar panels were shaded by an infill unit that went in next door. 

“There is so much land in the city that our beautiful, old, mature, single-family neighbourhoods need to be protected from these towering monstrosities,” he said.

Coun. Michael Janz told reporters that when someone puts solar panels up on their property, they can never know what their neighbour will do.

“They may plant a tree, they may do something else," he said. "And at the end of the day, we as the city have to be concerned about the housing shortage.”

Several speakers asked questions about how accessible council and committee debates are for younger people, those from underrepresented groups or those who can’t afford to take a vacation day to attend.

Cherie Tellier-Klassen with the Women's Advisory Voice of Edmonton noted that the city did not have time to do a gender-based analysis on the proposed changes. 

“We have a lot of the loudest voices," she said. "The most privileged voices are the folks that tend to speak up at council.