Viscount Bennett redevelopment joins wave of legal resistance over Calgary rezoning

More than a dozen residents of Richmond-Knob Hill have filed an appeal for judicial review against the City of Calgary's decision to approve the redevelopment of the former Viscount Bennet school site.

In April, after a lengthy public hearing, city council voted 9-5 to rezone the land off of Crowchild Trail S.W. The developer, Minto Group, plans to build up to 1,509 residential units across eight buildings — up to 16 storeys high — for its project, now called Parkline.

Now, a group of 18 residents who call themselves "Neighbours for Richmond-Knob Hill" are fighting back.

Lucia Rossini-Lake, who leads the group, said residents believe city council failed to comply with procedures required to change or approve bylaws under the Municipal Government Act.

They also believe council relied on outdated reports — such as traffic studies — and failed to properly assess whether the aging infrastructure could handle the capacity of the development when making their decision.

"We just want to make sure that there's proper analysis and scrutiny and we've got current data on what is the state of our infrastructure before we go and make these big decisions that will have a lasting impact on existing communities," said Rossini-Lake, who lives a couple of blocks away from the site.

That's in addition to wider concerns about excessive density, traffic, a lack of green space and more previously shared with CBC News and at the public hearing.

"I would hope, like in any business or industry or in life, that when you make mistakes or if you miss something, you reflect and say, 'Hey, could we have done this better? Is there a better way for next time?'"

The group has a court date scheduled for July 23.

The City of Calgary and Minto Group declined to comment because the matter is before the courts.

Randi Collins said this case is part of a growing trend in Calgary, now that blanket rezoning is in full force.

She's the managing lawyer at Getz Collins & Associates, whose specialities include real estate. She is not involved with this particular case.

"A lot of these communities used to have density requirements that wouldn't allow these types of developments, and now they're starting to relax those decisions," said Collins. "We're going to see a lot more of these legal challenges."

Earlier this year, another group of Calgary residents challenged Calgary's blanket rezoning bylaw in court, but failed. This spring, a Calgary resident won the right to appeal a major infill development next door. Meanwhile, a number of Calgary communities are turning to restrictive covenants to block development.