The new Bridgeland-Riverside Area Redevelopment Plan process has concluded. A lot of valuable input was received and has been be reviewed to help inform future planning in the area. A summary report for phase three of engagement can be viewed here.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the process.

Moving forward, The City is taking a new multi-community approach to local area planning. The Guidebook for Great Communities will be used to help plan a community’s future long-term growth and development. Past planning work, such as: the East Riverside Master Plan; the Main Streets – 1 Avenue N.E. Streetscape Master Plan; approved sites on The City’s Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources; and the sites designated with Character Homes Retention incentive program will continue to inform the vision and policies in local area planning for Bridgeland in the future.

The timeline and next steps for a multi-community local planning process that includes Bridgeland-Riverside has not been determined. The community will be informed when more information is available.

Here are some questions and answers about the future of Local Area Planning in Calgary:

The City of Calgary has been in the process of creating a new Area Redevelopment Plan for Bridgeland-Riverside since 2017. The original Bridgeland-Riverside Area Redevelopment Plan (ARP) was adopted by Council in 1980 and is out of date in terms of policy and direction. The new ARP will establish a vision for the area and guide future redevelopment. The Bridgeland-Riverside ARP will address future redevelopment types (e.g. residential, commercial), pedestrian and cycling connections, transportation and parking, open spaces, building heights and densities, and design.

In 2018, The City shared a draft of the Bridgeland-Riverside Area Redevelopment Plan. Since then the proposed Guidebook for Great Communities has been created. The Guidebook is a higher-level policy document at The City that outlines a framework for how local area plans, like the Bridgeland-Riverside ARP are created. The Guidebook and the local area plan are intended to work in tandem to guide future growth and redevelopment in a community.

The City has taken the draft area redevelopment plan that was shared in 2018 and translated it into the framework outlined in the Guidebook.

Information on the updated draft is provided in the tabs below.

In 2016, The City began working with Bridgeland-Riverside Community Association and area landowners to create a Master Plan for the East Riverside area. The Master Plan, which covers the area of land south of Centre Avenue N.E. and east of 9 Street N.E., sets out a vision for the East Riverside area and principles to achieve this vision. As The City begins work on a new Area Redevelopment Plan for Bridgeland-Riverside, the content of the Master Plan will be used and incorporated into the new Area Redevelopment Plan where possible.

What is a Local Area Plan?

A local area plan identifies and guides where and how future growth and development should happen within a specific area. It is a statutory document that will be adopted by Council.

A local area plan includes these components:

• VISUALIZING GROWTH - What type of growth makes sense where? (vision & maps)
• ENABLING GROWTH - What local/custom direction is needed to realize great redevelopments in this area? (development policies)
• SUPPORTING GROWTH - If growth occurs, what physical and social investments are needed? (future infrastructure & amenity goals)

A new local area plan will fill gaps in communities where no local plan currently exists and will replace other plans that are largely outdated.

What guides growth and redevelopment?

Local area plans are one of many strategic tools in our planning system that work together to create great communities for everyone. The tools in our planning system are used to achieve desired outcomes as planning moves from vision to outcome.

Why is a Local Area Plan needed?

Local area plans provide guidance and direction as communities reach their natural redevelopment lifecycle stage and outline how communities can continue to evolve to meet people’s needs and remain places that people love and want to live.

THE LIFE CYCLE OF A NEIGHBOURHOOD

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

COMMUNITIES MUST EVOLVE TO MEET PEOPLE’S CHANGING NEEDS AND PREFERENCES

People’s needs and preferences have changed over the past 50 years and they will continue to change over the next 50 years.

Census data shows that, today, proportionally fewer households are composed of a ‘two parent and kids’ family and more people are living alone, as part of a couple without children, or as part of a multigenerational family. One-person households accounted for 28.2% of all households in 2016, the highest share since 1867.

Nationally, one-person households became the most common type of household for the first time in 2016, surpassing couples with children, which were down from 31.5% of all households in 2001 to 26.5% in 2016. In comparison, the percentage of one-person households was 25.7% in 2001. Since 1951, the percentage of households comprised of just one person increased steadily, from 7.4% to 28.2% in 2016.

The changing household composition will affect the demand for different types of housing forms, especially as housing affordability becomes an issue.

Where is growth and redevelopment encouraged?

Growth and redevelopment in established neighbourhoods helps ensure population levels can be maintained. A key ingredient of thriving communities with vibrant local shops, amenities and schools is having the local population needed to support them.

Calgary’s Municipal Development Plan encourages future population and job growth in specific areas of the city. These areas include Activity Centres, Main Streets, and Transit-Oriented Development areas which are intended to support higher density development, more diverse forms of housing, retail and commercial services, public and essential services, as well as amenities. These areas are also characterized by frequent and high-quality light rail and/or bus transit service.

To the meet the goals and objectives of the Municipal Development Plan and to maximize opportunities for people to choose to live and work in the established areas, growth must also occur outside of these specific areas, within our communities. This allows for a greater range of housing types to suit all ages, lifestyles and housing needs in a way that contributes to communities evolving overtime

The draft plan focuses the highest intensity of future growth in and around the area’s Main Streets, the LRT station area, and activity centres.

TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT
Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) areas are generally defined by a 600 metre radius around a transit station which represents an approximately 5-8 minute walking distance.

MAIN STREETS
Main Streets are great places to live, work or visit because a range of amenities, shops, restaurants are accessible in one stretch via a range of transportation options.

NEIGHBOURHOOD ACTIVITY CENTRES
Neighbourhood Activity Centres (NACs) are often located in the middle of a residential area and provide locals with access to local shops and amenities, often within walking distance.

ESTABLISHED AREAS
Redevelopment in these areas is a gradual process that occurs over a number of years and is guided not only by planning policy but also by market demand and people’s changing lifestyle preference and housing needs.

How is a local area plan implemented?

Private building / investment
It is largely individual landowners and property owners who help implement the plan if/when they decide to build something new on their parcel.

When land owners decide to build something new, they will have to submit an application to the city for consideration.

Through the application review process, any infrastructure required to support the individual project (such as utility connections and sidewalk repair/replacement) is identified and paid for the developer. The local area plan will guide the review of future applications.

Public building / investment
Established areas continuously change and evolve. This change in communities, including changes in job and population levels, impacts the desired and required provision of publicly funded amenities and programs.

• Project are generally considered and prioritized by City Administration and Council through The City’s business plans and budgets.
• Citizen direction on needs and desires informs City of Calgary evaluations of required public infrastructure investment.

Through our public engagement process, public investment goals for the area as well as specific associated implementation actions have been identified. City service lines will use the identified implementations actions as input to inform future budget requests.

How was this local area plan created?

The City works together with local residents, landowners, businesses, builders/developers and other interested stakeholders – creating a plan through an iterative approach.

The City has been active in the Bridgeland-Riverside area since Fall/Winter 2017 and has completed two previous phases of engagement to inform the draft plan that was shared in 2018. Since that time, the draft plan has been translated into the framework identified in the proposed Guidebook for Great Communities.

We are now looking to engage with the community on this updated draft.

What have we heard from the community so far, and how was that considered in the draft plan?

Please refer to the 'Previous Engagement" tabs below.

Project Next Steps

Following the close of phase three on December 8, The City will create a What We Heard report and feedback will be reviewed and considered by The City.

Updates to aspects of the plan that we are currently engaging on will be considered and incorporated, where possible, in future iterations of a draft plan for the area. Next steps for the Bridgeland-Riverside plan are to be determined.

PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENTS

The City has been engaging with the community of Bridgeland-Riverside since Fall 2017 to inform the creation of a new area redevelopment plan.

In the first phase of engagement, in Winter 2017, The City collected input to inform draft character area statements, a vision for the area, and draft land use concept and specific policy statements.

To review the What We Heard Report from Phase One, please click here.

In our second phase of engagement, in Spring 2018, The City shared draft land use concept, the character area statements, vision for the area and a draft version of the policy. The City collected input from the community to help confirm work in Phase One and get insight into further policy development.

To review the What We Heard Report from Phase Two, please click here.

In Phase 3 of engagement, in Winter 2019, we shared parts of the draft plan and were looking to gather feedback on those. These parts of the draft local area plan have been informed by the framework outlined in the proposed Guidebook for Great Communities. The local area plan and the Guidebook have been created to work in tandem and together they will guide future growth and redevelopment.

To review the What We Heard Report from Phase Three, please click here.

Please click through the tabs to see an overview of past engagement and what has been asked.

To stay up-to-date on this project and learn about future opportunities, please sign-up to receive email updates here.

THE DRAFT

Key aspects of the draft plan that we are looking for input on at this stage are shared below.

These aspects of the draft local area plan has been informed by the framework outlined in the proposed Guidebook for Great Communities. The local area plan and the Guidebook have been created to work in tandem together to guide future growth and redevelopment.

The Guidebook also includes a number of development policies in chapter three, these policies will apply to the Bridgeland-Riverside area and are not meant to be duplicated or repeated in the local area plan.

Please ensure you click through the each of the tabs here for further break out of the draft plan content. The URBAN FORM & SCALE tabs are helpful for interpretation of the mapping categories used in the draft.

In Phase 3 [EVALUATE] we are sharing aspects of the draft plan and looking to gather feedback. Engagement is open from November 25 through December 8.The input collected through this phase of engagement will be captured in a What We Heard report and will be reviewed and considered by The City.

The updated draft Bridgeland-Riverside plan is informed by the proposed Guidebook for Great Communities. To learn more about the Guidebook, please click here.

Please review the information below and share your thoughts online or attend the in-person event. Check out the event details listed in the side-bar for more information.

To review the information panels from the in-person session, please click here (1 of 2) and click here (2 of 2). Content from the information panels has also been broken out in the tabs below.

VISION & CORE IDEAS

Bridgeland-Riverside’s Vision

Bridgeland-Riverside will be a vibrant urban neighbourhood that will continue to build on its rich history and neighbourhood character with high quality pedestrian-oriented development. As the community evolves, Bridgeland-Riverside will continue to accommodate a mixed population, and will enhance its public amenities, transportation connections, housing diversity, and vibrant main streets.

Core Ideas

The core ideas are the overarching pillars that will set the high-level objectives within the Plan.

Bridgeland-Riverside is a distinct inner-city community and will:

• integrate new development into the community that is compatible with the existing development and contributes to the ‘community character’;
• support transit oriented development through strategic intensification of the land in close proximity to the Bridgeland-Memorial Station;
• create vibrant main streets and pedestrian-oriented spaces and promote a mix of commercial and residential uses to support local businesses and activate public spaces;
• preserve and enhance existing community amenities and local historical resources and improve park spaces to be more functional for all-age groups; and
• improve street safety for pedestrians and cyclists of all-ages and abilities through the provision of enhanced connections and designs for residents and visitors travelling within and outside the community.

Urban Form Definitions

The gallery and text below provides a high-level definition for the different urban form classifications. For more detail on these you can refer to pages 20 – 77 of the Guidebook for Great Communities.

BUILDING SCALE

SCALE MODIFIERS

Scale refers to the combination of height and massing of a structure. Scale modifiers are applied to urban form categories to indicate the general scale and anticipated human experience at the street level. The scales are grouped by compatible built forms with similar design standards to manage the experience of height and massing for people at the street level.

Three modifiers (limited, low and mid) have been used in the Bridgeland-Riverside scale map. When we applied scale, we considered the future anticipated activity level of an area to ensure that the scale will support enough intensity to make the anticipated activity level viable.

In general, many people are needed to support a retail area so larger scale buildings near high-activity areas will help to support their success, while an overly restricted building scale will reduce their viability. A variety of scales have been applied across the communities to provide opportunity and choice and contribute to the diversity of Bridgeland-Riverside.

SCALE MODIFIER DEFINITIONS

Refer to the gallery below for further examples of scale.

GROWTH OBJECTIVES

Supporting Growth Goals, Objectives, and Implementation Options.

Through the local area plan, we look to identify what physical and social investments are needed to support the growth vision.

The below chart illustrates growth objectives and a list of supporting implementations options identified to support the objective.

What is a supporting growth objective? To support the vision set out in the draft, we have included supporting growth objectives to identify where and how growth can be supported at the local level. The objectives represent the future or desired result that the Plan commits to achieve. They apply at the community-wide level (i.e. they’re not site specific) and provide benefit to more than one resident. The objectives are long-term, durable and are intended to be actionable.

What is an implementation option? Implementation options have been identified by stakeholders through public engagement conducted during the drafting of this Plan. These options represent steps community stakeholders identified to achieve the support growth objectives of the Plan. The list below represents a snap shot in time based on feedback collected to date. It is expected that the list will be updated based on further engagement as part this project as well as projects in the future. In addition, this list will be updated as options are implemented and additional options are identified. The items listed here will be used by City Service Lines and other departments as inputs and consideration into future budget decisions. The local area plan will not implement these options but the list will be used to inform future budget allocations.

PROVIDE YOUR INPUT

We want to hear your thoughts on key components the draft plan! Please click through the tabs below to share your thoughts on the maps and implementation options. This will be open for comments until December 8.

DRAFT MAPS

Map 1: Urban Form

Map 1: Urban Form identifies and categorizes the purpose, general function and activity levels of different parts of a community. These categories are focused on the street experience and not related to building scale. The map demonstrates how the different areas of a community relate to and support each other.

The urban form map is in the gallery below for further review and background on the urban form classification system has been provided above to aid your interpretation. After you have reviewed the draft urban form map, please provide your comments below. Review the image of the Urban Form Map below or review and zoom in on the PDF here.

Map 2: Building Scale

Scale refers to the combination of height and massing of a structure. The scale map identifies the general scale and anticipated human experience at the street level. Scale has been applied to ensure enough intensity to make the future anticipated activity level viable.

It is important to note that the land use bylaw will supplement building scale modifiers by more specifically regulating height, floor area ratios and transition.

The building scale map is provided in the gallery below or you can review and zoom in on the PDF here. Background on the scale modifiers have been included in the tabs above and will aid your interpretation of the scale categories.

IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS

Further background on this section has been provided under the tab above "SUPPORTING GROWTH OBJECTIVES".

Please review the above information and provide your answers to the list of questions below.

VISION and CORE IDEAS

The vision and core ideas for Bridgeland-Riverside were developed from feedback gathered at our October 2017 open house and through discussions with the Community Advisory Group, which is comprised of local residents and business owners. This vision and core ideas was shared at the April 30 open house for feedback for comments.

The vision and core ideas of the plan are as follows:

Bridgeland-Riverside’s Vision:

A vibrant urban neighbourhood with rich history and character that can be seen in its buildings’ architecture, street grid patterns, and spirited sense of place shaped through a diverse mix of residents. Its central location in Calgary provides direct access to the river pathways, parks, the LRT, and downtown. Nestled in the natural escarpment just north of the Bow River, the area has beautiful views and tree lined streets. As it evolves, the community will build on its great public amenities, strong multimodal transportation connections, housing diversity, and vibrant main streets. Bridgeland-Riverside will celebrate its heritage and continue providing a dynamic place for its diverse residents and visitors to live, work, visit and enjoy.

Bridgeland-Riverside is a vibrant, urban community that will continue to celebrate its heritage, and character as it evolves, providing lively places for both diverse residents and visitors to enjoy.

Core Ideas

Bridgeland-Riverside is a distinct inner city community and will:

• provide a diverse range of housing types to increase overall density in appropriate locations;
• integrate new development into the evolving community character with that continue to serve the community needs to accommodate all age groups;
• preserve local history and historical buildings, and support development that complements historic development patterns and architectural features wherever possible.
• encourage transit-oriented development through guided intensification of the land near the Bridgeland/Memorial LRT Station;
• support a mix of compatible uses including retail, office, residential, live work units, as well as amenities such as parks, green space, and public spaces; .
• create vibrant and safe public realm space, along the Urban, Neighbourhood Main Street through buildings and public space design;
• enhance existing local amenities and prioritize safe pedestrian and cyclist connection network;
• provide a range of multimodal transportation choices to facilitate efficient movement of all modes of travel;
• encourage transit and active modes as the preferred transportation option, and strengthening the connections to the Bridgeland Memorial LRT station; and
• encourage community cohesiveness shaped by a high level of engagement, social programing, and a diverse mix of residents.

The draft land use concept illustrates the general location and relationship between land use character areas, the transportation network and parks. Land use building blocks found in this land use concept map are based on the character areas established in the Developed Areas Guidebook. The building blocks outline height restrictions and allowable building functions in a specific area.

The plan area is served by major road, transit, pedestrian, and cyclist connections. The policies in the ARP are intended to improve existing connections, and make walking, cycling, and transit use more desirable choice in the community. The future connectivity maps identify potential future connectivity and potential future mobility improvement within Bridgeland-Riverside.

The parks and open space map identifies existing and proposed parks, open spaces and pathways. The policies in the ARP are intended to maintain and enhance the quality amenities that serve the community’s needs, for the benefit, use and enjoyment of residents of all ages.

The Bowl: The area has a distinct street pattern of tree-lined blocks with back lanes, offering primarily low-density residential housing, and a combination of historic and infill houses. With a focus on maintaining the historical character, the area will continue to accommodate lower-density residential options as new development is integrated into the existing street pattern.

The Escarpment: Describes the residential area extending up the bluff. The Escarpment has steep topography, with a number of pedestrians and cycle pathways and connections winding up and to adjacent communities. The Escarpment supports slope-adaptive low-density residential housing alongside infill housing.

The following areas (see map) have been identified as potential rowhouse/ townhouse locations within The Escarpment and The Bowl.

Main Street: A commercial and social focal point of the community, the area is designated as a Neighbourhood Main Street. Mid-rise development along the Main Street offers a wide range of uses including retail, services, office, institutional, and residential. Public realm improvements will enhance the street to support commercial vitality, greater variety of employment opportunities, transit use, and provide goods and services to local residents.

The Couplet: The western gateway into the community, ‘The Couplet’ offers mixed-use, mid-rise buildings to accommodate a range of retail, services, offices and residential uses. Edmonton Trail and 4 Street NE provide multimodal connections north-south to and through Bridgeland, while a walkable pedestrian environment ensures safe and vibrant street activity.

Edmonton Trail Residential: The area is characterized by multi-residential, small scale commercial buildings and institutional uses. It is expected the area will intensify and increase in density over time, offering unique slope adaptive designed redevelopment.

West Riverside: The area offers a mix of residential options - unique character homes, low-rise multi-residential, as well as new infill development and higher density development closer to the Bridges and the LRT. It provides safe local connections for pedestrian, cyclists and vehicles across the south-west side of the community.

The Bridges: One of the key gateways for residents and visitors, The Bridges contains multi-residential developments with main level commercial along key streets and well-connected park amenities. Close to the LRT station, it will accommodate higher density, pedestrian-friendly commercial and transitsupported mixed-use development.

East Riverside: The majority of East Riverside is residential, assisted living and health care institutional-related uses. As the area redevelops a mix of multi-residential options will bring new residents to the area expanding the demographic profile. Mixed-use commercial will be located along key streets and improved connections will allow safe access to amenities. The area closest to the LRT station will accommodate higher density development.

Active frontages help activate the street and provide interaction between pedestrians and building uses. Building frontages located along streets where an active frontage is identified should be designed to generate activity, provide natural surveillance, and create an interesting and comfortable environment for pedestrians.

Retail-Required Frontages: Provide active uses at grade, including but not limited to retail, personal services, consumer services, supermarkets and restaurants, and community service uses, including child care.

Retail-Ready Frontages: Ground-floor units should be designed to accommodate both residential and retail uses and will allow residential to retail conversion over time.

Vision and core ideas

The vision and core ideas provide direction and a foundation for planning within the community.

Vision

“ Bridgeland-Riverside is a vibrant urban neighborhood with rich history and character that can be seen in its building’s architecture, street grid patterns, and spirited sense of place shaped through a diverse mix of residents. Its central location provides access to the river pathways, parks, close access to LRT, and downtown. Nestled in the natural escarpment just north of the Bow River, the area has beautiful views and tree lined streets. As it evolves, the community will build on its great public amenities, strong multimodal transportation connections, housing diversity, and vibrant main streets. Bridgeland-Riverside will celebrate its heritage and continue providing a dynamic place for its diverse residents and visitors to live, work, visit and enjoy.”

Core ideas:

Bridgeland-Riverside is a distinct inner city community that will:

• ƒ Provide a diverse range of housing types and increase overall density in appropriate locations compatible with each ‘Character Area’ in order to accommodate a broad demographic group, ranging from old to young and singles to families.
• ƒ Integrate new development into the historic yet evolving community character. Preserve local history and historical buildings, and support development that complements historic development patterns and architectural features wherever possible.
• ƒ Integrate Transit Oriented Development through guided intensification of the land near the Bridgeland Memorial LRT.
• ƒ Support commercial and mixed-use development with vibrant and safe public realm space, providing day-through-night activity along the Urban and Neighbourhood Main Street.
• ƒ Enhance existing local amenities through a comprehensive strategy and new/redevelopment opportunities, as well as prioritize safe and flexible public and open spaces, and a well-connected pathway network.
• ƒ Provide a range of multimodal transportation choices to facilitate efficient movement of all modes of travel.
• ƒ Encourage transit and active modes as the preferred transportation option by providing safe and comfortable pedestrian and cyclist routes, and strengthening the connections to the Bridgeland Memorial LRT station.
• ƒ Encourage community cohesiveness and the continued spirited sense of place shaped by high level of engagement, social programing, and a diverse mix of residents.

Character areas are sections of the community grouped together based on unique characteristics and development patterns that require special consideration to meeting planning objectives. There are eight character areas identified within Bridgeland-Riverside.

Based on the unique features and considerations in the character areas, building blocks for the community have been identified. The building blocks outline height restrictions and allowable building functions, in a specific area. This map is not intended to change the regulations that apply to the existing development, but outlines what land use districts are acceptable for redevelopment in the future.

Phase 1 Engagement Summary

Community Advisory Group Meetings (monthly)

• The group provides local area context and insight to The City in drafting of the ARP.
• With the help of the Group, eight character areas were identified and shared with the public. These character areas are the foundation that led to the development of the building blocks in the land use concept map.

Public open house (November 20, 2017)

• 227 comments on what residents love, what areas need improvement and descriptions for character areas.
• 379 unique visitors to the webpage and 362 comments were received.

Online survey (November 20 – December 5, 2017)

What we heard

• Bridgeland-Riverside is well-loved for its walkability, good local amenities and close proximity to downtown.
• Bridgeland-Riverside has unique community character which some described as: fun, friendly, historical, community-minded, eclectic and quirky.
• Community members desire improvements made to safety with respect to crime reduction and pedestrian infrastructure and lighting.
• Community members desire public realm improvements to provide safe pedestrian and cycle connections to key areas including along main street and connecting across Edmonton Trail and 4 Street NE, across the escarpment, and to the LRT.
• Community members desire a larger grocery store in the area and made other specific suggestions for additional retail and commercial.

In Response, The City has created

• A vision and core ideas
• Character area descriptions
• A Land use concept and building blocks map

Please provide your input into vision and core ideas, character area descriptions and land use concepts below.

The first phase of public engagement took place in November and December 2017 through an in-person open house and online survey. Based on this feedback, The City has put together the Phase One: Bridgeland ARP What We Heard Report, which captures all of the feedback we collected. The report includes high-level themes as well as verbatim comments. The report will be used by The City as we work towards updating the Bridgeland ARP.

What we asked:

These information panels were provided for review to inform answers to the questions below.

Character Areas Exercise

Eight character areas (on nine maps below) have been identified in the Bridgeland-Riverside community.

We are seeking your feedback to see if you generally agree with the boundaries of these areas and to find out what you think the character of each area is, and what should be preserved or changed in the future. This input will guide the development of policies for each of the character areas.

• The Bridges
• The Escarpment
• The Bowl
• East Riverside
• Main Street
• West Riverside
• Couplet
• Edmonton Trail Residential (East)
• Edmonton Trail Residential (West)