In-person Engagement Session

• Tuesday, June 11 from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
• Windsor Park Community Association, 5304 6 Street SW
• Registration not required. Drop in anytime.

Virtual Engagement Sessions

• Tuesday, June 4 from 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• Thursday, June 20 from 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• A brief presentation, followed by the opportunity to ask questions and provide input.
• REGISTER HERE for virtual engagement sessions.

This video presentation below is an overview of Phase 3 Engagement:

Engagement Booklets will be mailed to homes and businesses starting the week of May 28, 2024. 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 Engagement Station (see map) nearby.

There are multiple topics open for feedback:

• Topic 1: Draft Maps
• Topic 2: Community Improvements
• Additional Feedback: Provide feedback on the revised draft of Chapters 1 & 2 as well as the initial draft of Chapter 3 of the local area plan.

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

Redevelopment is a natural part of a community’s life cycle, which often begins when communities reach a certain age and homes, buildings and amenities need to be refreshed and revitalized or renewed and replaced.

The first 20 years

New communities tend to draw many young families and typically reach their peak population within the first 20 years.

Years 30–40

Population begins to decline as children begin to move away from home.

40–60+ years later

Homes and buildings age while the population continues to drop or flatline. Schools and businesses often struggle to stay open.

Redeveloped and revitalized

The community is revitalized through private redevelopment and public reinvestment, bringing increased population growth and enabling local businesses and amenities to thrive.

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 3 – REFINE, and we want to hear your thoughts on the draft Urban Form and Building Scale maps and community improvements.

Your input now will help to refine the maps we are discussing 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.

What We’ve Discussed So Far

In Phase 2 – EXPLORE, we asked you to review the draft Vision and Core Values for the Chinook Communities that will help guide decisions about the evolution of the area over the next 30 years. We also discussed moderate to large-scale growth in the plan area. We encourage you to review the Phase 2 What We Heard Report and What We Did Reports.

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.

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.

It is anticipated that the Chinook Communities Local Area Plan will be presented to City Council in winter 2025. In the meantime, while the draft Plan is being developed and until Council makes a decision on the proposed Plan, active land use amendment and development permit applications will be reviewed against existing Council approved policy plans, such as the Municipal Development Plan.

Those details are not in the scope of a local area plan; however, at the development permit stage details such as building design, site constraints, landscaping, parking, utilities and waste and recycling staging areas are discussed and carefully looked at. Privacy is also discussed as part of the design of the new development. For example, glass blocks or frosted glass can be placed when side windows are proposed. All development permits include the opportunity for the public to provide comments during the review of the proposal as well as to appeal the decision about the proposed development.

Most mature communities, especially those built prior to 1980, are below their historical peak population, so most communities are already designed to handle more people than live here today. Due to the decline in population and higher efficiency houses being built, there is now infrastructure capacity. This includes roads, transit stops, water and wastewater management, etc. to handle more types of housing.

That being said, through the local area planning process, we plan for reinvestment along with redevelopment. Chapter 3 of the local area plan (Supporting Growth) highlights key community improvements desired within the Chinook Communities. We are looking for feedback on community improvements now to ensure we are capturing all the ways we need to support growth and change in the area.

A small-scale home is any home that is three storeys or less with one or more units that each have their own exterior entrance. Small-scale homes include:

• Population stabilization and growth
  Communities that have more housing choices have seen their populations stabilize or gradually increase which supports local businesses, schools, recreation facilities and community reinvestment.

• Housing choice
  One size doesn’t fit all. Having a variety of homes to choose from attracts people of different ages and family compositions, creating vibrant communities.

• Supporting changing life needs
  Having more housing options provides the opportunity to live and remain in the same community close to friends, family and the things we know and enjoy, as our housing needs change over our lifetime.

• These maps are draft and currently open for discussion. Feedback provided will be used to help refine the maps.
• Local area plan maps help guide decisions about what types and heights of development could fit best where, if proposed by property and landowners in the future.
• It is property owners and landowners who decide if or when to propose to build something new on their land.
• If a property or landowner were looking to build something that does not align with their current zoning, they would need to apply to rezone their land. If a local area plan were in place, it would be reviewed to inform the decision on the proposed rezoning.
• Land is not rezoned through the local area planning process and/or if a local area plan is approved by Council. Rezoning takes place through a separate process that includes a detailed City review and recommendation, public notification and opportunities for comments, and a public hearing of Council.