After almost four weeks of the Public Hearing on Rezoning and having heard from nearly a thousand Calgarians, on May 14, 2024, Council voted to pass blanket rezoning. The outcome was 9 members of Council in favour with six against. Councillor Sharp voted no.

Councillor Sharp is disappointed with the result of the Public Hearing as she worked tirelessly to reflect the voices of Calgarians in her debate and votes. 

Councillor Sharp strongly believes in the democratic process and considers the public hearing process to be one of its most crucial aspects. It ensures that the public has a voice on how their communities change and grow before their elected representatives, so she is disappointed that Council voted to allow townhouse and rowhouses anywhere without this vital step voted to remove this important process. However, Councillor Sharp is committed to continuing to work with her constituents to make sure that your voices are heard and that your concerns are addressed. 

While Councillor Sharp voted no, she proposed 14 amendments to improve accountability or to directly address the feedback she heard from Calgarians. Several of these were successfully adopted by Council: 

• Prioritizing new Local Area Plans in parts of the city seeing the most townhouse and rowhouse development
• Directing Administration to engage with communities that have completed Local Area Plans to determine if amendments are needed
• Exploring new ways to address the privacy concerns raised by Calgarians
• Quarterly updates on how blanket rezoning and the rest of the Rezoning for Housing program is impacting the housing supply in Calgary
• A two-year report from Administration on whether blanket rezoning and the rest of the Rezoning for Housing program has been successful

Councillor Sharp’s defeated amendments were: 

• A pilot program for concurrent R-CG up-zoning applications instead of blanket rezoning
• Rezoning Local Area Plans in phases instead of blanket rezoning
• Sunsetting blanket rezoning and restoring current land use districts after two years
• Requiring a minimum of 1 parking stall for each primary and secondary suite across all rezoned areas
• Including secondary suites and backyard suites in density calculations
• Ensuring all developments have an appropriate amount of outdoor space and number of trees

In addition, Councillor Sharp supported several amendments proposed by other members of Council.

Now that blanket rezoning has passed, Councillor Sharp will continue to engage with her constituents and work with her fellow councillors to ensure that the City continues to find a balance and move forward in a democratic and positive direction where all Calgarians feel heard.

It is also important to note that all Calgarians will still have a chance to comment on new developments in their communities through the development permit process.

Visit calgary.ca/rezoningforhousing to learn more about what these changes could mean and whether your property will be affected. The page includes an interactive map to check the proposed zoning for your address. 

Thanks to everyone who has shared their feedback, whether directly to Councillor Sharp, by making a submission to Council, by participating in Administration's engagement process, or by registering to speak at the Public Hearing.

Council has received nearly 5500 written submissions, not including all of the messages received by individual members of Council. More than 700 people spoke at the Public Hearing. 

Councillor Sharp reviewed all of the feedback she received before making a final decision at the Public Hearing.

Administration also prepared a What We Heard report collating the results from its engagement process which is available on the Rezoning for Housing Engage page. 

If you have any questions or if you would like to share comments directly with Councillor Sharp, please reach out to the Ward 1 Office anytime. 

Councillor Sharp and five of her colleagues sponsored this Notice of Motion which would have directed Administration to hold a plebiscite on blanket rezoning as part of the 2025 General Election. 

Blanket rezoning is a significant change that affects not just how our city grows, but the process we use to get there and how people can participate. Councillor Sharp believes it's essential to hear from as many people as possible for such a fundamental change, and a plebiscite is one of the best ways to do that. 

This motion was unfortunately defeated by Council in an 8-6 vote on March 13. Councillor Sharp hopes that Ward 1 residents will make their voices heard as part of the public hearing on April 22.