A local area plan sets the vision for growth and change in a group of communities over the next 30+ years. A local area plan provides guidance and direction on development, investment and community improvements that residents, landowners, builders/developers, City Planners and Councillors can commonly refer to when new ideas are proposed for the area.

A local area plan will support your community as it changes by:

• Increasing predictability about how the area could change in the future.
• Responding to changing trends and demographics such as population decline, family composition, aging in place, housing preferences.
• Expanding housing choice to welcome additional people and increase population.
• Supporting local amenities and businesses through increased population.
• Informing decisions about reinvestment such as improvements to public spaces.
• Adding more homes, increasing bikeability, walkability and access to amenities and transit, as well as reducing the need to expand our city’s footprint all play a role in environmental sustainability.

Communities naturally change and evolve. Over time, trees and kids grow up, businesses change ownership and offerings, homes and buildings age. People choose to move, renovate or rebuild their homes or businesses to better suit their changing needs.

There is a stage in each community's life cycle when the choice to rebuild or redevelop homes and buildings becomes more and more frequent (generally as homes and buildings reach 50+ years). A lot of change within a short time can start to feel unpredictable or overwhelming. It's at this stage where it can be helpful to have a plan in place to guide decisions about how and where change, new development and community investment and improvements make sense in communities.

Creating a plan to help guide change within communities ensures that there's flexibility (for people looking to make changes), direction (to help guide new development when ideas are proposed), and certainty (for residents to know how their community may change in the future).

We're working together to create a local area plan to help ensure change happens in the right ways in the South Shaganappi Communities.

Life cycle of a community

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

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

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

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

The South Shaganappi Communities include Banff Trail, Montgomery, Parkdale, Point McKay, Saint Andrews Heights, University Heights, University District, Varsity, and The University of Calgary.

Planning Together for the Next 30 Years

We’re working together to create a local area plan for the South Shaganappi Communities including: Banff Trail, Montgomery, Parkdale, Point McKay, Saint Andrews Heights, University Heights, University District, Varsity, and The University of Calgary.

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.

South Shaganappi Communities - Plan Area

The South Shaganappi Communities include Banff Trail, Montgomery, Parkdale, Point McKay, Saint Andrews Heights, University Heights, University District, Varsity, and The University of Calgary.

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.

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.

We are currently in Phase 4 – REALIZE, which is focused on sharing the final draft plan and brining it forward to Committee and Council for review and decision.

In this phase of the project you can review the final draft plan, learn about the key ideas, review the key changes made since the last phase and find an overview of the engagement that took place through the project. The Plan is anticipated to be brought forward to Committee and Council in Winter 2025.

A variety of opportunities for involvement were available through the process that aimed to accommodate a range of participation interests and intensities, as well as to remove barriers to participation.

Engagement opportunities and methods included: working group sessions, in-person and virtual engagement sessions (with the public, community associations and development industry representatives), , online engagement, mailed engagement packages, My Idea Stations, and community walking tours (with community association representatives).

Through the project, advertisements were displayed to help raise awareness of the project and opportunities to get involved. Methods used to raise awareness included: mailed information, community newsletter articles and ads, large format road signs, social media ads (Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, Nextdoor), digital ads (including video ads on YouTube), digital ads at local destinations including transit stations, Communications Toolkits for area Councillors and Community Association representatives to help spread the word.

Visit calgary.ca/Shaganappi 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.

How was public input considered in the creation of the local area plan?

Input provided by residents and other participants helped the project team understand perspectives, opinions and concerns throughout all phases of the project. Input collected in each phase of the project helped influence and inform the concepts and policies that were created and refined throughout the process. Throughout the project, the project team shared what was heard, highlighted the key themes raised, and provided responses for how key themes were addressed and considered.

Although it would be a great outcome, the goal of public engagement is not to reach consensus or make everyone happy. Public engagement is about considering the input, ideas and perspectives of those who are interested in or impacted by decisions, before decisions are made. Participant input is an important part of local area planning but is one of many areas of consideration. Other areas include: City policies, professional expertise, current context and trends, and equity which all factor into the ultimate decision-making process and concept development.

Visit calgary.ca/Shaganappi 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.

Land is not rezoned in connection with the approval or adoption of a local area plan. Landowners determine if and when to propose to rezone their land. If a land use rezoning application were brought forward for a property it would be reviewed for alignment with the local area plan (if approved by Council). If no local area plan or local policy guidance is in place, development proposals are reviewed against other Council-approved City policies including the Municipal Development Plan.

In limited cases, The City (rather than a specific landowner) may propose to rezone land; however, City-initiated land use rezonings are clearly identified as such, prior to being brought forward to Council for decision. City Council is the decision maker on all land use rezoning proposals and a public hearing (which includes opportunities for the public to speak to Council directly) must take place prior to Council decision.

No. While a local area plan identifies and guides where and how future growth and change could happen within a specific area, it is property/landowners who decide if and when redevelopment happens on their property/land. If a property/landowner would like to redevelop their land, they are required to submit a planning application and go through a review process to ensure their application aligns with City policies such as the Municipal Development Plan, Local Area Plan and other applicable City policies

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 City of Calgary does not have jurisdiction over institutions’ lands, including the University of Calgary, Foothills Medical Centre, Alberta Children’s Hospital, and McMahon Stadium. The South Shaganappi Communities Local Area Plan cannot apply future growth policies or direction on this land.

It is anticipated that the South Shaganappi 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.

In May 2024, Council approved citywide rezoning to allow for single, semi-detached, townhomes and rowhouses across all communities in Calgary. For more information visit calgary.ca/RezoningforHousing. Approved local area plans, those currently underway, as well as all future local area plans will be updated and drafted to align with Council direction to allow for single, semi-detached, townhomes and rowhouses across all communities in Calgary. These changes were effective as of August 6, 2024.

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 South Shaganappi 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.

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.

Local area plans are meant to be living documents that may be amended and updated over time as the community changes and evolves and as conditions and circumstances in the area change. City Council is the decision maker for all local area plan amendments.

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

Input provided by the participants helps the project team understand perspectives, opinions and concerns throughout the all phases of the project. Input collected in each phase of the project helps influence and inform the concepts and policies that are created and refined throughout the process. Throughout the project, the project team will share what was heard, highlighted the key themes raised, and provided responses for how key themes were addressed and considered.

Although it would be a great outcome, the goal of public engagement is not to reach consensus or make everyone happy. Public engagement is about considering the input, ideas and perspectives of those who are interested in or impacted by decisions, before decisions are made. Participant input is an important part of local area planning, but is one of many areas of consideration. Other areas include: City policies, professional expertise, current context and trends, and equity which all factor into the ultimate decision-making process and concept development.

Public input provided in each phase of the engagement process is compiled, reviewed and considered as each chapter of the local area plan is created.

Review the What We Heard & What We Did reports from each phase of the project for details.