Residents in a northwest Calgary community have begun a pilot project of sorts, to garner support for restrictive covenants limiting further densification in their neighbourhood.

The Varsity Community Association hosted an information session for area residents on Sept. 4 after residents began showing interest, according to VCA Civic Affairs director Jo Anne Atkins.

Questions arose around restrictive covenants about two years ago, Atkins said. They became more urgent after Calgary city council passed the citywide rezoning bylaw earlier this year.

“Then residents started, well… there’s just so many emails of people who wanted to find out more,” she told LWC.

Atkins said they had one meeting in July and then another on Sept. 4 when they had a lawyer come and speak to them about the process. Though the VCA hosted it, Atkins said they’re keeping themselves at arm’s length of citizens’ desire to have restrictive covenants.

“We basically put the information out there, and it’s something where the community association is, of course, supportive, if people want to do it, but it’s really a private contract between neighbours,” Atkins said.  

“So, the association itself won’t contribute any money towards it, or anything like that, but we’ll make available all the information that we have.”

A pilot project was also initiated, with the first signing meeting on Sept. 10. There are three streets that have shown interest: Valparaiso Place, Varsity Estates Grove and Varsity Estates Link.  Atkins said she does live on one of the streets.

“We’ve learned a lot through the pilot project, and so these three streets feel very concerned about both the blanket upzoning, but also the (south Shaganappi) local area plan,” she said.

“They’re three quiet streets. Part of one of the streets is a cul-de-sac with eight homes on it. and the local area plan, the last version of it, had identified these homes for four to six storey apartment buildings.”

The South Shaganappi Communities Local Area plan completed its Phase 3 refine segment on June 24, 2024. In that plan, it shows that the draft building scale for these streets to be up to four storeys. Kitty corner to Valparaiso Place, however, it does allow up to six storeys.

City says it supports the direction of the MDP

A restrictive covenant is a registered, legal agreement attached to the title of a property. It allows for restrictions on what can be built, or what owners can do on the land. When the property is sold, the covenant and the restrictions stay with it.

For a deep dive into restrictive covenants in Calgary, check out this piece from Robson Fletcher from CBC Calgary.

The City of Calgary said that a restrictive covenant is enforceable by the parties who own the land with the same covenant. They said it’s up to the courts to decide if that restrictive covenant is valid, or if it should be discharged, they said in an email response to LiveWire Calgary.

“Planning decisions by The City are made based on the Land Use Bylaw and applicable policies. The Municipal Development Plan (MDP) and local area plans (LAPs) guide decisions about growth and change in communities within Calgary,” read an email response.

“Where there are restrictive covenants that do not align with the direction of the MDP and LAP, The City supports the direction of the MDP and LAP.”

To that end, in November 2023 a judge in the Court of Appeal of Alberta upheld a previous ruling and dismissed the appeal in a Banff Trail redevelopment case that involved the discharge of a restrictive covenant.

“The City’s current vision and the development vision reflected by the restrictive covenant are irreconcilable. While the enforcement of private contract rights in the form of the restrictive covenant is important, such rights are not absolute,” the decision read.

“The question that must be considered is whether the City has sought to achieve its broader policy interests in a manner that complies with the law. In this respect, municipalities must operate within the confines of available legislative mechanisms.”

Varsity restrictive covenant

Atkins said that they had about 200 people out to the restrictive covenant information session, with a couple of additional streets also interested in the process.

“I think what was really upsetting was that the (Local Area Plan) on one of the streets had had the houses, on the east side of the street were going to be apartment building, and the houses on the other side of the street were going to be left to single-family homes,” she said.  

“Nobody relishes that prospect of having an apartment building across the street from you, when you’re used to having single-family homes and trees and that kind of thing. So that’s where a lot of the concern was coming from.”

She believes the residents understand that it would be an agreement between neighbours entering into a restrictive covenant. Generally speaking, Atkins said the gist of the restrictive covenant is to prevent the subdivision of lots and limit construction to single-family or semi-detached homes on those lots.

Atkins said there’s already a mix of housing options in Varsity, with 55 per cent of housing being multi-family. She acknowledges that they’re going to take on more. According to the latest community profile for the neighbourhood, the majority of units in Varsity are either apartments or rowhouses.   

“We wanted to preserve the 45 per cent that are single-family homes, that are semi-detached, and we wanted to direct where we felt the density would go because we’re not opposed to increasing density, but it needs to be done, in a thoughtful, intelligent way,” she said.

There are 77 homes that have expressed interest in the pilot project, Atkins said. Some have taken to erecting signs they acquired from other groups in the city pushing for restrictive covenants.

“I think with the blanket upzoning, quite frankly, I think we’re going to see a lot more of this happening. That’s my sense of it,” Atkins said.

“I think that council has sort of left the public behind if you know what I mean. Council is imposing planning policy that I don’t think the public was ready for.”

Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp said she was asked to attend the information meeting but was advised against it by legal and ethics due to pending litigation over the citywide rezoning.

“I just don’t think it’s appropriate for me, not only as a (Varsity) resident but also as a councillor who is very vocal on my thoughts on the rezoning to even attend on a personal level,” she told LWC.

“I mean, if the Varsity Community Association is having meetings and town halls to educate people on what a restrictive covenant is, how you apply for it, I think that’s fine.

“As a member of council, I have to absolutely make sure I’m holding the process to a high standard and that’s what I’m doing because it has to play out.”