Calgary city councillors have voted against a plebiscite on citywide rezoning and will proceed with a public hearing on the matter later in April.

The item came to a special meeting of council Wednesday afternoon after the initial Notice of Motion co-signed by six councillors passed technical merit at a March 12 Executive Committee meeting.

There, Coun. Jasmine Mian suggested that it be put to a special meeting the following day to expedite a decision, and to ensure that legal requirements for a public hearing could be met. Information packets are queued up and ready for mailing to tens of thousands of Calgary households in advance of the

“I think it’s important that we make the decision so that people can get notification of what’s happening, whether that’s to participate on April 22 in the public hearing, or that to know that they don’t actually have to do that, they can vote on this in the next election,” she said on Wednesday before the special meeting.

Councillors have been split on the citywide rezoning issue, which would see Calgary’s base zoning become R-CG, R-G or H-GO, which would allow for single-family homes, townhomes, and duplexes as permitted uses and rowhouses as discretionary uses.

The vote at the special meeting stuck with that split, with councillors voting 6-8 against holding a plebiscite in conjunction with the next municipal election.

“We’ve heard from Calgarians. I know I’ve heard from Calgarians. They want a say in this,” said Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp.

“April 22 isn’t giving them the opportunity to have that say or the time. The plebiscite notice of motion is the most democratic way to give them that opportunity.”

A public hearing allows members of the public to have five minutes to share their views on the topic before council, with the vote left to council. The vote provides direct democracy to citizens to support a ballot question.

In Alberta, according to the Municipal Government Act, a plebiscite is non-binding. An item on a plebiscite ballot must come to council after the vote, for both debate and for final approval.

Councillors heard that nearly $1 million has been spent on public engagement – not including staff time. That includes the planned mailer, which is roughly $600,000. Should a plebiscite have moved ahead, those mailers would have been destroyed.

There would be a requirement for another public hearing after the plebiscite, at which time another $1 million may be required for similar engagement and mailers informing people of the public hearing.

Plebiscite debate highlights

Coun. Dan McLean opened the debate, saying that while citizens are hearing the pros on citywide rezoning from city-led public engagement sessions, thousands of Calgarians have filled their inboxes with concerns over the impacts of rezoning.

“Regarding my Notice of Motion, many Calgarians have contacted us in opposition to blanket rezoning with concerns related to their property value of their neighbourhood character, increased crime traffic and parking issues,” he said.

“Remember, not a single member of council ran on the blanket rezoning in this last election. So, I believe we need a mandate from the people to do what is proposed. Calgarians voices do need to be heard on a proposal that directly impacts so many Calgarians and a plebiscite is the best way to get that mandate from the people.”

Coun. Courtney Walcott said that after engagement and input – and votes – on things like the housing strategy, the city’s shifted to decision-making.  He said a decision to oppose changing communities, that’s a political choice.

“That is not a choice that helps Calgarians and is not a choice that built housing that is not a choice that helps our affordability and that is not a choice that helps our competitive edge,” he said.

“That is a choice that helps the selfish.”

Coun. Kourtney Penner resurrected her 2021 election website content to demonstrate to her colleagues, that while she didn’t run specifically on citywide rezoning, she did run on creating denser neighbourhoods that provided housing choice for thousands of Calgarians.

“I'm invested in supporting communities through planning. I believe that new residential units bring people coming to your community, neighbourhoods, friends, volunteers, students, local business owners,” she said.  

“I believe in people. People are what make communities, not buildings. Providing choice, space and opportunity for many is what I support.”

Coun. Sharp said that while people may have campaigned on increasing density, they didn’t campaign on removing the public’s right to have a say during public hearings.

By rezoning the city, it would eliminate the need for hundreds of land-use redesignations, which do require a public hearing, where people can have their say on the item.

“It's a decision that we are now faced with that could have a legacy far longer than anything else we do around this horseshoe,” Sharp said.

“So, we owe it to Calgarians to give them as much say as possible and giving them a chance to vote on this question is the best way to do it. Because you will have to defend your decision, and your why, after today.”

Coun. Jasmine Mian said that a plebiscite allows tens of thousands of Calgarians whose properties are already zoned R-G (similar zoning to R-CG, but just for master-planned new communities) to vote on rezoning other people’s properties.

She said that comparing to fluoride or the Olympics is objectively incorrect. Fluoride will go in everyone’s water. The Olympics would have affected every property taxpayer. This doesn’t impact everyone equally, Mian said.

“We've had plebiscites in the past and they're non-binding, where those same folks that voted against the will of the people,” she said.

“So, what is it about? It's about actually coming together as a group of 15 people who should be adults in this room and discuss - is a plebiscite actually viable, can we accept the result either way, and I put to you that we cannot and so I will not be supporting this request today.”

The public hearing meeting of council will go ahead April 22 and at that time Calgary city council will decide on citywide rezoning. Calgary Planning Commission heard last week that the rezoning would be implemented in August 2024.