In-person Engagement Session

Tuesday, Nov. 28 from 5:30-8 p.m. at the DAYS INN Hotel (3828 Macleod Trail South). Registration not required. Drop in anytime.

Other projects will also be in attendance including:

• 50 Ave S.E. Functional Planning Study
• City Building

Virtual Engagement Sessions

Tuesday, Nov. 21 from 7-8:30 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 4 from 7-8:30 p.m.

A brief presentation, followed by the opportunity to ask questions and provide input.

REGISTER HERE for virtual engagement sessions.

The Virtual Engagement Session Presentation has been recorded so you can watch at a time that works best for you.

This video presentation covers the same information that is online below and included within the Engagement Booklets, but in a video format.

If you prefer to read and provide feedback via paper and pen, Engagement Booklets will be mailed to homes and businesses starting the week of November 13, 2023. The Engagement Booklets include a feedback form on the back page that includes pre-paid postage to mail back to us.

A digital version of the Engagement Booklet is available if you did not receive one and/or you can find a booklet at an Engage Station (see map) nearby.

There are three key topics open for input:

• Topic 1: Vision and Core Values
• Topic 2: Potential Focus Areas for Growth
• Topic 3: Small-Scale Growth
• Additional Feedback: Provide feedback on the revised draft of Chapter 1 & the initial draft of Chapter 2 of the local area plan.

Click the tabs below to review information on provide feedback on each topic.

Planning Together for the Next 30 Years

We’re working together to create a local area plan for Bel-Aire, Britannia, Elboya, Manchester, Mayfair, Meadowlark Park, Parkhill, Windsor Park, a south portion of Manchester Industrial, and a small eastern portion of Glenmore Park.

What is a Local Area Plan?

A local area plan sets the vision for the evolution of the area over the next 30 years. It provides direction on future development and investment that residents, landowners, builders / developers, City Planners and Council can commonly refer to when new development and investment ideas are proposed.

Why Do We Need a Local Area Plan?

The city, communities and streets where we live and work have changed, are changing, and will continue to change. People renovate, rebuild, enlarge and modify spaces around them all the time. We need to make sure there’s room for people looking to make changes and provide direction to help guide decisions. We also need to provide guidelines for investment when change is proposed, and certainty for residents and businesses to know how their community may change in the future.

Chinook Communities - Plan Area Boundary Update

Based on the public feedback received in Phase 1, the Chinook Communities' boundary has been amended to include the 39 Ave. LRT Station and nearby area.

Conversations about where, why and how revitalization and redevelopment should happen are essential to ensure there's a plan in place to help guide future changes. Growth and change happen in a community with or without a local area plan.

Consumer demand, market forces, and other factors will drive change in the community. However, in areas with high demand that do not have a local area plan, developers will often have to undertake site-by-site land use redesignation / rezoning applications in order to build developments to meet demand for new housing and businesses. This site-by-site approach can create uncertainty for local residents, who don’t know where the next application will come from and what it will propose. It also creates uncertainty for developers, who don’t know for certain what types of proposals will be acceptable where. Without a local area plan, conversations about growth and change happen application by application, often in a manner disconnected from a wider vision. A local area plan helps create more certainty for everyone by outlining the general expectation for what scale and type of new development is appropriate where and what policies will help shape development that is proposed.

What We’re Talking About Now

We are currently in Phase 2 – EXPLORE, and we want to hear your thoughts on the draft Vision and Core Values. We’re also going to start looking at where and how growth and change could happen in the area.

What We’ve Discussed So Far

In Phase 1 – ENVISION, we asked you to help us look back at the past, understand the present and envision the future. The feedback provided helped us draft a Vision and Core Values for the Chinook Communities that will help guide decisions about the evolution of the area over the next 30 years.

What We’ll Discuss Next

Your input now will help inform and refine the focus areas for growth and new development. In the next phase of engagement, we will ask for your thoughts on the appropriate building scales (heights/number of storeys) and uses (residential, commercial, industrial, mixed use, etc.) for growth within all areas of the plan. In addition, we will discuss community improvements and reinvestments.

Feedback provided by participants helps shape the local area plan as it is created.

Following each phase of engagement, the project team compiles and shares what was heard, highlights the key themes raised, and provides responses for how key themes were considered and addressed.

In addition to participant input, other key inputs are also considered to help inform the creation of the local area plan, as shown below.

Visit calgary.ca/Chinook and check out the "PAST ENGAGEMENT" tab to review What We Heard & What We Did Reports along with Engagement Summaries from each phase through the project.

No. The local area plan itself does not redesignate / rezone land. Property / landowners determine if and when to propose a redesignation / rezoning of their land. If a land use rezoning (redesignation) were brought forward by a property / landowner, it would be reviewed for alignment with the Chinook Communities Local Area Plan, if the local area plan is approved by Council. The local area plan provides policy direction that would inform and guide decisions about development in the area.

Who makes the decision on proposed land use redesignation (rezoning) proposals? City Council makes the final decision on land use redesignation applications. Administration must review all land use redesignation (rezoning) proposals and makes a recommendation to Council based on planning merits, supporting policy and comments received. Council refers to the local area plan and other City policy and holds a public hearing prior to making a decision. Council can make the final decision on a land use redesignation as outlined in the Municipal Government Act (MGA) based on their own interpretation of policies, site characteristics and the merits of the application.

The Municipal Development Plan (MDP) includes policies that direct industrial areas to remain predominantly industrial to support a strong and prosperous economy and should resist the encroachment of non-industrial uses (such as residential and commercial) into them. In addition to the direction in the MDP, recent analysis undertaken as part of the Industrial Growth Strategy and Industrial Action Plan highlights the importance and locational advantage, and proximity to downtown of the existing industrial lands within the Chinook Communities for emerging industrial trends (such as for last-mile goods delivery or smaller industrial users). With these considerations in mind, we will work with the public, businesses, and other City departments to understand how we could maintain and improve existing industrial areas within Chinook Communities and accommodate certain nonindustrial uses in strategic areas.

The Chinook Communities will thrive as a place where people want to live, work and play through a unique combination of mixed residential opportunities, walkable commercial realms, innovative industrial areas and healthy green spaces. Supported by a public realm that fosters safe, active and well-connected communities, the Plan will attract residents, employees and visitors with the Red Line transit station areas and the Macleod Tr. S./S.W. Main Street acting as focal points.

Encourage resilient and flexible low-impact industrial development east of Macleod Tr. S./S.W. that enables production and innovation alongside residential and commercial uses supported by green infrastructure and visually appealing urban interfaces.

Enhance and improve parks, open spaces and natural areas to create inclusive and programmable spaces for all ages, abilities and seasons with a focus on protecting natural areas particularly along the Elbow River, Glenmore Reservoir and Stanley Park.

Support a broad range of mixed-uses, placemaking initiatives and enhanced connections within the Macleod Tr. S./S.W. and 50 Ave. S.W. Main Streets that create well-integrated links to other key nodes and corridors such as Elbow Dr. S.W., 58 Ave. S.W. and 61 Ave. S.W.

Improve Macleod Tr. S./S.W. as the main corridor in the Plan area and encourage complementary mobility connections throughout the Plan such as Elbow Dr. that include safe, comfortable and equitable year-round mobility options including pathways, cycling, wheeling and pedestrian infrastructure that connect users with local green spaces, businesses and transit.

Foster the contextual evolution of the Chinook and 39 Ave. S.W. transit station areas as social hubs that promote compact, distinct and safe and vibrant areas through a unique mix of residential, commercial and employment opportunities that enhance the public realm and connect with the surrounding communities.

There are areas in the city where moderate-to large-scale growth (four storeys or potentially more) is already directed to go.

Focus areas for growth are outlined in Calgary’s Municipal Development Plan (MDP).

These growth focus areas include:

• Main Streets – Areas of higher density, activity and a variety of uses along specified streets or routes. Examples in the Chinook Communities are Macleod Tr. S./S.W. and 50 Ave. S.W.

• Transit Station Areas – Locations around Light Rail Transit (LRT) stations where mixed-use and higher-density development should occur. Chinook and 39 Ave. LRT stations are currently the Transit Station Areas in the Chinook Communities Plan area.

• Activity Centres – Concentrated areas of growth with high activity and a variety of uses. Examples in the Chinook Communities include the area surrounding CF Chinook Centre and Chinook LRT Station.

In addition to these focus areas, City planners, the Chinook Communities Working Group and local community associations have reviewed public feedback from the first engagement phase on what exists today and discussed areas where there could be potential for additional growth in the future.

1. The map below shows initial ideas and potential focus areas for moderate-to large-scale growth.

2. We want and need your feedback to refine the map.

3. The map was created based on direction in the Municipal Development Plan (see key considerations above), with some refinements made based on initial feedback. Pink areas show potential focus areas where new buildings that are four storeys (or potentially higher) could potentially be welcomed if proposed in the future, but again, these areas are a starting point for discussion. Grey areas are existing focus areas that already support (through zoning or policy) new development that is four storeys or higher.

4. New development will continue to be proposed with or without a local area plan in place. Through discussions like these, we can work together to help guide where new moderate-to large-scale buildings could fit best.

5. In the next phase of engagement, Spring 2024, revised maps with additional detail (including potential building scales/heights and uses – residential/commercial/mixed-use) will be shared and additional opportunities for discussion and feedback will be provided.

Grey areas are existing focus areas for growth. These areas are existing focus areas that already support (through zoning or policy) new development that is four storeys or higher.

Pink areas are potential focus areas for growth to discuss and consider. Based on the Municipal Development Plan and feedback received so far, these are areas that have been highlighted as potential areas for discussion and feedback, where new buildings that are four storeys (or potentially higher) might fit best if proposed in the future. Focus areas for growth are areas where buildings such as residential apartments, buildings with shops on the bottom floor and residential above (mixed-use), or commercial and professional office buildings (as shown on the map below) could fit best.

(based on the Land Use Bylaw Rules)

• Contain one primary residence and may include a backyard or basement suite.
• Can be different scales including one storey (bungalow) two or three storeys.
• The general lot coverage is 45 per cent and the maximum height is 10 metres.

(based on the Land Use Bylaw Rules)

• Contain two primary residences in one building and may include a basement suite or backyard suite for each primary residence.
• Residences in semi-detached dwellings are separated from each other side to side, and duplexes are separated above and below.Can be different scales including one storey (bungalow) two or three storeys.
• The general lot coverage is 45 per cent and the maximum height is 10 metres. This makes the massing generally similar to a single-detached home.

(based on the Land Use Bylaw Rules)

• Contain three or more residences on a property and may include a basement suite or backyard suite for each primary residence.
• Typically have up to 60 per cent lot coverage and up to three storeys in height (11 metres).

(based on the Land Use Bylaw Rules)

• Contain three or more primary residences (suites are not permitted).
• Residences not required to have front entrance facing the street.
• Typically have up to 60 per cent lot coverage and can be up to three storeys in height (11 metres).
• Residences are separated from each other side to side and / or top to bottom.

If Council approves these changes, it would then be legal to apply to build a variety of small-scale homes such as single-detached, semi-detached, rowhouses and townhouses on any residential lot in the city. While this would remove the land use redesignation/rezoning requirement for these homes, this does not change the existing development permit review process.

Administration is currently working on providing more information and opportunities for you to share your input. All property owners who may be affected by these changes will be directly notified by The City. We currently expect that the public hearing, which will include the opportunity to submit comments and speak to Council, will take place in spring (Q2) 2024. The date will be confirmed as soon as possible. For more information on Home is Here – The City of Calgary’s Housing Strategy, go to calgary.ca/HousingStrategy