Marathon public hearings on blanket rezoning kick off at Calgary city hall

Two years after Calgary city council held its longest public hearing in the city's history, another marathon session began on Monday to tackle the same contentious subject: blanket rezoning.

Council has 360 speakers from the public registered to speak this week, and as of Friday, it had received 2,390 written submissions from people sharing their views on whether blanket rezoning should be repealed. The public hearing is anticipated to run until at least Friday, with roughly 12-hour hearings expected each day, and the potential for the meeting to spill over into next week.

This week's hearing is the latest round of debate over the municipal policy, which came into effect in 2024. Blanket rezoning allows for more multi-unit housing types, such as rowhouses or fourplexes, on lots that were previously only zoned for single-family homes.

In April 2024, more than 700 people shared their thoughts with council about blanket rezoning across a 12-day public hearing. Council voted later that year to move forward with the policy.

A key difference between this week’s hearing and the last one, Mayor Jeromy Farkas said on Monday, is the conversation can be informed by the results the city has seen so far from blanket rezoning.

He added that even though he and many other councillors ran on either changing or completely repealing blanket rezoning, they must remain open to persuasion from the public's comments this week.

“It’s not just about whether or not we should keep or scrap blanket rezoning; it’s more so about how we can continue to grow,” said Farkas.

“[And] how to build needed housing in a way that makes sense for residents but also can keep Calgary affordable as we approach becoming that city of two million people.”

Calgarians speaking at the public hearing will appear before a city council that voted 13-2 in December to begin the process to repeal blanket rezoning, shortly after being voted into office during last fall's municipal election.

Much of Monday's debate revolved around whether blanket rezoning has successfully led to improved housing affordability and supply, and whether the policy has resulted in thoughtful planning.

The policy’s supporters who appeared in council on Monday argued blanket rezoning leads to more accessible and affordable housing, that it will lead to more young people staying in Calgary to purchase a home, and that it’s provided economic and tax benefits for the city.

Attendees who oppose the policy argued it has led to multi-unit homes built without community approval, and that it could strain infrastructure like water lines and roads that weren’t designed to support neighbourhoods with higher density.

“Here I am facing a new council over the same issues,” said Tracy Cherniawsky on Monday.

“No thought or planning was involved in the system. We’ve seen issues with lack of parking, little to no green space between the row housing, a strain placed upon traffic accessing these locations, not to mention the taxing demands on our fragile infrastructure such as our water system.”