District Planning (Community Conversation)
District Planning has been a project that has been in the works for years, ever since the City adopted the City Plan back in 2020.
We have 300+ neighbourhoods in Edmonton. At the most high level, District Planning groups collections of neighbourhoods into geographic districts so that residents can meet most of their daily needs by walking, rolling or taking a transit trip close to their homes. It is also a tool to illustrate how each part of the city will change and densify as Edmonton grows - supporting more housing, businesses, amenities and transportation options as we welcome new residents. And the outcome is a streamlined plan for each area of the city to guide development, and future amenities and infrastructure that you can look to.
For those of you who might not be aware, In Ward Karhiio, we have 3 districts: Ellerslie, Mill Woods and Meadows, and Southeast.
For this Virtual Tea, I was joined by Sean and Shauna, two Planners on the District Planning team. You can hear an introduction from Sean and Shauna and why they went into the field of planning at 6:15 in the video. We shared a lot of information, including what residents can realistically expect from District Plans if approved across the City and in Ward Karhiio, the rapid growth of the population and how this impacts planning, how District Planning relates to the Zoning Bylaw Renewal (you can read my blog on this project here) and other planning tools, and more.
The Draft District Policy and 15 District Plans will be going for a Public Statutory Hearing May 28th - 30th. You can register to sign up and speak using this form, or email me your thoughts at keren.tang@edmonton.ca.
Urban Planning at the City and District Planning
Can you share an overview of Urban Planning at the City, and how planning touches peoples daily life? (time stamp @ 9:00) At the City we have two planning areas. One is development focused dealing with items like re-zonings (discussed at Council), plan amendments and permitting. The other team focuses on long-term Strategic Planning, answering the big questions around how we plan in order to meet the goals of the City Plan. This can include big projects like District Planning, along with heritage designations.
What is District Planning, and what are some of the changes and benefits people might see if approved? (Time stamp @11:20) There are 3 main outcomes/benefits of District Planning:
Simplifying the City’s planning system by reducing the number of plans we have and making the team more efficient. District Plans will also provide direction where we do not have a plan.
Enabling a consistent City-wide approach to both planning and infrastructure investments across the City, including development, housing and amenities.
Integrating our different physical systems like mobility systems, land use systems and growth systems, so we can achieve the City Plan. This will better allow us to meet City Plan goals like 50% of trips being made through active modes.
What was the process around District Planning? (Time stamp @14:00) The intent of this project is to consolidate the information we already have. The project started with looking at the City Plan which tells us about the proposed major and minor nodes, and corridors across Edmonton where we will see more density and development (like taller buildings) and where future infrastructure is needed. The District Plans build on this by providing more specificity.
As part of the process, the District Planning team went through all planning documents and tools at the City which tell us how development should happen (for example, our older industrial plans). This was all brought together for District Planning, including identifying plans which are no longer relevant or needed.
The final step of the process was public engagement - their team wanted to hear from residents what in the plan was good, what was not helpful, and what was missing (within the scope of District Planning). A lot of revisions were made, and District Plans are living documents so there are future opportunities for more amendments if approved.
District Planning and the Impacts to Residents
What kind of changes should people anticipate if District Plans are approved? What might residents experience, and in what timeline? (Time stamp @ 17:30) On a day to day basis, most people won’t see a big difference. District plans are first about simplifying our planning framework (consolidating the tools we have) to make sure the tools we have align with The City Plan. So the direction for change reflects what already exists in many planning documents. The difference is that District Plans will be focused to the general direction of The City Plan. You might see change if/when people want to change the use of their own land, or a parcel close to them wants to make a change.
The timeline for the changes emerging through District Planning is slow and generational. For example, in past plans dating back to the 1970’s, Mill Woods was envisioned as a transit hub. This vision is only now being realized with the Mill Woods Transit Centre and the new Valley Line SE LRT. The scale of change is generational. Although it is true that we are growing quickly in Edmonton, we still have a lot of capacity for growth and development in our neighbourhoods.
There has been misinformation spreading about District Planning, and the idea that it might impact rezoning processes, or movement across the city. Can you share what District Planning is NOT going to do? (Time stamp @ 20:15) District planning does not change the process of rezoning or getting a development permit. The plan will fulfill the same function of other plans that came before.
District Planning will also NOT restrict peoples mobility. In fact, it can be seen as the opposite. In the District Plans you will see how the City is trying to improve mobility and transportation options (for example, through investments in mass transit, or active transportation). This will give people more options to move throughout the city, wherever they want to go.
The District Plans also do not create new development opportunities that are not already supported by the City Plan’s nodes and corridors. The plans do provide more detail that the City Plan, but opportunities for new development (along major nodes, and corridors) were determined through the City Plan.
Last year, we heard about how District Planning became contentious due to a misinformation campaign. The City will continue to grow, and evolve, as will our urban planning. How can people navigate big urban planning changes like District Plans and not fall into traps of misinformation? (Time stamp @ 23:15) The concerns that emerged last year (about 15-minute communities) was a surprise for the planning team because the term is related to a ‘convenient’ neighbourhood not the restriction of movement.
The planning team takes all feedback and concerns from Edmontonians seriously, and uses these as opportunities to engage new people in conversations about planning. All concerns are legitimate, and provide the City with an opportunity to share and listen. So if you have questions, be sure to reach out to the City (or our office) for more information or a conversation.
District Planning and Ward Karhiio
In Ward Karhiio we have 3 districts - Mill Woods and Meadows, Ellerslie, and a very small portion of the Southeast district (primarily industrial). How will District Planning impact the ward? (Time stamp @ 26:40) In places like Mill Woods, where neighbourhoods were built in 1970-1990’s, you likely won’t see a lot of change or new development unless you are near a node or corridor. District Plans would not have a big impact here because these neighbourhoods are mainly built out already. In a space like Ellerslie where there is a lot more development to occur there will be a bigger impact.
District Plans provide information about infrastructure future planning - like how we can improve mobility, the mass transit network, or the bike network. While these changes would also be slow to occur over time, this is something that can impact the ward and the way people move around in the long term.
Mill Woods Town Centre is a major node, and right now the developer for the area is undergoing engagement to support a re-envisioning of the space. What does a major node look like? (Time stamp @ 29:20) Major nodes were selected in the City Plan because they had significant infrastructure like a hospital. In Mill Woods there is the Grey Nuns hospital (major infrastructure), but also the shopping mall, the library, the recreation centre, and now the Valley Line. All of these are reasons for people to come to Mill Woods, and strong amenities for a growing population in the area.
In each District Plan there is a section on population growth. In the Mill Woods and Meadows plan we see current population at 126,000 and by the time we reach a city of 2 Million the population will be 173,000. In Ellerslie the current population is 51,000 and by the time we reach 2 Million in Edmonton the population is projected at 186,000. Can you talk about these growth numbers and what they are based on? (Time stamp @ 33:25) The numbers being used in the latest plan drafts are based on the 2021 Federal Census data. We have a monitoring team at the City to stay on top of growth modelling and projections.
In the near term, most of the growth in these plans will be accommodated in the neighbourhoods that are still being developed, both in The Meadows and in Ellerslie. These areas are mainly farmland right now. Growth will also happen in the nodes and corridors over the long term - as more people move there, there will be greater demand for other things like commercial and more amenities.
The south side is reported as one of the fastest growing areas of the city. Greenfield development can accommodate the growth that is planned for - but our pace of growth is happening a lot faster than anticipated. The nodes and corridors in the City Plan were identified to support a population of 2 million, but our District Plans will continue to be updated as we reach population milestones and see where growth happens (as they are living documents).
Growth in employment is a data point in each District Plan. In the Southeast, when we reach a population of 2 million we will see 60,000 new jobs in the area - including industrial jobs and home-based businesses. What might this growth mean for the area? (Time stamp @ 40:25) Mill Woods has established commercial and industrial areas to the west that will see new development between 91st and gateway. A lot has been built out but there is more to be added. And Ellerslie has developing industrial areas along 91 street and Ewing Trail, and the plan calls for additional commercial and industrial lands to be developed in the annexed land between 80 street and 91 street, in the southern most part of the City. There will be employment growth in these areas.
The nodes and corridors are also good sites for increased employment. There are already things like car dealerships or retail stores along this stretch. But there is an opportunity here to build more commercial or repurpose parking lots. Employment growth will have many different flavours in Ward Karhiio. District plans keep in mind the goal for employment growth and will continue to be amended/adapted.
Connecting to our City Goals and other Policies
The Zoning Bylaw Renewal (ZBR) was approved late last year. How do they influence each other, and why did we tackle the ZBR first? (Time stamp @ 45:35) The ZBR and District Plans are related but have a different role. If you think about City Planning as an inverted Pyramid, the City plan is at the top as the guiding vision, District Planning is below it because it gets more specific to the district and neighbourhood level, and the ZBR is below that because zoning regulations dictate what happens on each parcel of land at a very detailed level. We need all of these in order to achieve our City Plan goals and targets.
District Plans will tell us where and how our physical environments will change over time. They are more future forward. They will inform changes to zoning in the sense that if people want to change the zoning on their land, they can look to district plan to inform that change and anticipate how Administration and the City would review the application based on the plan in place.
While the ZBR was brought to Council first, their creation and updating happened around the same time (less than 1 year apart). The advantage of doing them around the same time is making sure the LANGUAGE aligns in the various documents. This is hard to do when you are working with plans that are created decades apart. Having both happen simultaneously helps with streamlining and clarity.
Engagement and the District Plans
How have you been incorporating Edmontonians’ feedback into the District Planning Project? (Time stamp @ 50:15) As part of the project the team did a lot of engagement of all different types. Their team started with prototype planning for the District Plans - this involved a lot of the people who initially engaged with the City Plan. From this emerged the draft plan for each district which was then brought forward for engagement, both in-person (for example, at workshops but also at farmers markets, libraries, rec centres) and online. The team did a second round of engagement in the Fall after their revisions from engagement, focusing on the question of ‘what is still missing in the plan?’ or ‘are there any errors?’. Each round of engagement was followed by revisions.
Cities are dynamic - if over time we want to revisit some of the decisions in the District Plan or even in the City Plan that is ok. If adopted, this does not mean the end of planning for this area. It just means that there will need to be more engagement to work with communities and make those changes.
What are things that stood out to you from the engagement? (Time stamp @ 54:20) During engagement we heard from some people that they want to preserve the way things are and limit change. But we also heard equally that some people want change to happen more rapidly, with more opportunities for density. It’s a balancing act, but District Planning will help to be more explicit (through the policy language) and more transparent around the opportunities for growth and development.
What do you wish people knew about District Planning that they might not know? (Time stamp @ 56:00 )
Shauna: District Planning will have a big role making us more efficient as a City. It will impact how we strategically invest in infrastructure so we can be more efficient with the resources we have, and see better growth. It will also get rid of 55 planning tools that no longer align with our future plans is approved. This would mean less clutter in the way for Administration, for residents and Council to understand how we will get to our City Plan goals. We had 3900 pages of planning pages taken away through this review and replaced by 480 pages.
Sean: District Planning will not result in immediate change, but it will immediately help Administration to have better governance of planing systems, less conflicts between plans and more straightforward conversations with residents. This will mean savings on costs for everyone when resources are scarce.
