To Edmonton City Council: Consult the People Before Building the Future

The undersigned residents of Edmonton ask City Council to vote against the by-law rezoning request that would allow the construction of a 25-storey condominium tower on the north riverbank at 115th Street. It breaks so many Oliver and City-wide policies in such a radical way that approval of the proposal would set precedents that threaten the future of Edmonton's jewel, the river valley and ravine system.

Changes to the course of Edmonton's future should not come in through a back door as a result of a developer paying an application fee. Such vital changes cannot be enacted democratically without thorough public discussion. This informal petition urges all councillors to do the only democratic thing possible: reject the proposal.

- The current zoning of the proposed site conforms with the publicly-arrived at visions and policies in the Oliver Area Redevelopment Plan. The requested change in zoning would mean about a 775% increase in allowable height and about 1800% increase in unit density. The Oliver ARP would have to be publicly reviewed before such a radical zoning amendment could be considered.

- The tall tower would stand partly on the edge of the riverbank and partly in the valley. A large patch of rich wildlife habitat would be destroyed by the redevelopment. The large tower on the small site would be crammed in among existing buildings in the manner of a family portrait with the tallest person at the front.

A Few Of The Laws And Policies Violated By The Proposed Redevelopment:
1) A zoning bylaw (12800 Cl. 811.3) prohibiting development within 7.5M of the River Valley and ravine system.
2) A policy passed in February this year called “Development Setbacks from the River Valley” which requires a minimum public upland area setback of 10 Meters in new or redeveloping areas.
3) The City's Residential Infill Guidelines which require a 35M separation between high-rise buildings facing each other.
4) An Oliver Area Plan which states “.. to encourage the retention of the remaining older housing stock located along and in proximity to 100 Ave..” (The Hurtig log cabin, listed on the City's register of Historic Resources, would be demolished for the redevelopment.)
5) A River valley ARP (Bylaw 7188) which calls for “respect for the overall natural environment of the river valley” and “Controlling residential development to limit impact on the natural environment”

(Please note: on May 20, 2011 the author of this petition replaced "29 storey" with "25 storey" - to reflect changes in the developer's proposal. And on May 23 he changed "900%" to "about 775%" and "2088%" to "about 1800%" in the third paragraph - exact figures not released yet. There were 303 signatures on May 20th and 23rd .)