A public hearing on the land use for a contentious southwest Calgary townhome development has been postponed until early 2026, though one area resident said the process shouldn’t have been this painful.

The land use amendment slated for the Sept. 9 would have paved the way for the 42-unit Augusta Villas project at 30 Elveden Drive SW.

Residents, while opposed to the development for various reasons, were most concerned they didn’t have elected Ward 6 representation after former Coun. Richard Pootmans left.

They initially sent the City of Calgary a demand letter asking for the delay before ultimately taking the City to court earlier this week. A judge dismissed an application for an injunction to delay the land-use item.

That’s when Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp, who had been one of two councillors filling in for Ward 6 duties, put forward the postponement.

“For this file in particular, we need more time. The community needs more time. The applicant needs more time,” Sharp told her fellow councillors.

“We’re trying to make sure we give enough time for the applicant, the community and administration to work together to get everybody on the same page for this file to come to public hearing, where the community is satisfied and so is the applicant.”

Sara Austin, who has been speaking on behalf of a group of residents opposed to the project, said that there was a lot at stake for some Springbank Hill residents.

“We were here today to hold the council accountable and to show that we were listening and we will not stop speaking up for our community,” Austin said.

She said that given the proposed five-month delay, there’s hope the developer will come back with a project that’s more of a compromise with area residents.

‘Great measure of satisfaction’: Austin

It’s been a month’s long process to get to the point of a further postponement to January 2026. Austin said some councillors have expressed that representation for Ward 6 was important and that future councils should examine changes to the city policy around vacant council seats.

Still, it’s a big victory for the community, Austin said.

“I can say, obviously there was a great measure of satisfaction today in seeing the decision of council, and we appreciate that they have reached this conclusion,” she said.

“It should not have been this difficult.

“We should not have had to take council to court to have to spend months campaigning in such a way to push so hard. Democracy shouldn’t be this difficult.”

Coun. Sharp said this is how the process should work. Before the postponement motion she asked administration to clarify that even the mayor doesn’t have the power to remove items from the agenda before it happens.

The public hearing for the item had to be advertised in advance and the item had to appear on this day until a motion was made to postpone it.

“The process played out like we needed it to play out. They will get to go back and have conversations with the applicant the city, and this will go through a new advertisement and public hearing,” Sharp said.

 “So, I think the community in this case did win, but the support of the applicant has to also be mentioned.”

There was no specific set date for the future public hearing on this item. It will have to be re-advertised and that will have to coincide with a meeting schedule set by the incoming Calgary city council.