NEWS & UPDATES

Chat with the project team to learn more and ask questions!

You are invited to our conversation series where you can connect with South Shaganappi Communities Local Area Planning project team to learn more about the project and have your questions answered.

Location: Father David Bauer Arena (2424 University Dr N.W.) - Meeting Room.

Dates: Thursday, March 7 & Monday, March 18, 2024.

Available Time Slots: You can register for any of these 50-minute time slots available on both dates:

  • 3 – 3:50 p.m.
  • 4 – 4:50 p.m.
  • 5 – 5:50 p.m.
  • 6 – 6:50 p.m.

Registration is required - please CLICK HERE to register for the date and time that suits your schedule best.

Here are a few additional things to keep in mind:

  • Capacity is limited to 10 persons per slot to ensure every feedback is captured and addressed by the team.
  • The conversation series is an informal setting.
  • Feel free to come in anytime within your scheduled time slot.

Looking forward to connecting with you.

Opportunities for public input in Phase 2 of the Chinook Communities Local Area Planning project were open Nov. 14 - Dec. 11, 2023. Thank you to everyone who took the time to get involved. We are working to compile and theme all feedback received and will share what we heard and what we did with feedback in the next phase of engagement, Phase 3: Refine, anticipated to launch in spring 2024.

Stay connected to the project! Subscribe for updates to receive information about the project, what we heard, what we did and upcoming opportunities to get involved.

We’re planning and building our city now to ensure we remain a place where home is sustainable, diverse, accessible, equitable and liveable for everyone. We need to act now as we are quickly approaching a population of two million Calgarians.

Current initiatives include:

  • Home is Here: The City of Calgary’s Housing Strategy: This strategy aspires to ensure that everyone living in Calgary has an affordable place to call home.
  • City Building Program: This program of work, which includes the Calgary Plan, Zoning Bylaw, and Street Manual, will set the forward-looking direction, and provide clear and user-friendly policy and regulation for The City and our partners to guide growth, mobility, land-use and development citywide.
  • Rezoning for Housing: As part of the Home is Here: The City of Calgary’s Housing Strategy this work will present to Council a proposal to rezone low-density residential areas to a base residential district that supports more housing options and improves affordability in all communities.

Learn more and get involved in these current initiatives focused on supporting the ongoing planning and building of our city.



ABOUT


Communities change and evolve over time. Conversations about where, why and how revitalization and redevelopment should happen are essential to ensure our communities change in the right ways.

Working together, we'll create a local area plan to guide the evolution of the South Shaganappi Communities including Banff Trail, Montgomery, Parkdale, Point McKay, Saint Andrews Heights, University Heights, University District, Varsity, and The University of Calgary.

A local area plan sets the vision for growth and change in a group of communities over the next 30+ years. A local area plan provides guidance and direction on development, investment and community improvements that residents, landowners, builders/developers, City Planners and Councillors can commonly refer to when new ideas are proposed for the area.

A local area plan will support your community as it changes by:

  • Increasing predictability about how the area could change in the future.
  • Responding to changing trends and demographics such as population decline, family composition, aging in place, housing preferences.
  • Expanding housing choice to welcome additional people and increase population.
  • Supporting local amenities and businesses through increased population.
  • Informing decisions about reinvestment such as improvements to public spaces.
  • Adding more homes, increasing bikeability, walkability and access to amenities and transit, as well as reducing the need to expand our city’s footprint all play a role in environmental sustainability.


Communities naturally change and evolve. Over time, trees and kids grow up, businesses change ownership and offerings, homes and buildings age. People choose to move, renovate or rebuild their homes or businesses to better suit their changing needs.

There is a stage in each community's life cycle when the choice to rebuild or redevelop homes and buildings becomes more and more frequent (generally as homes and buildings reach 50+ years). A lot of change within a short time can start to feel unpredictable or overwhelming. It's at this stage where it can be helpful to have a plan in place to guide decisions about how and where change, new development and community investment and improvements make sense in communities.

Creating a plan to help guide change within communities ensures that there's flexibility (for people looking to make changes), direction (to help guide new development when ideas are proposed), and certainty (for residents to know how their community may change in the future).

We're working together to create a local area plan to help ensure change happens in the right ways in the South Shaganappi Communities.


Life cycle of a community

New communities tend to draw many young families and typically reach their peak population within the first 20 years.

Population begins to decline as children begin to move away from home.

Homes and buildings age and the population continues to drop or flatline. Schools and businesses often struggle to stay open.

The community is revitalized through private redevelopment and public reinvestment, bringing increased population growth and enabling local businesses and amenities to thrive.

The South Shaganappi Communities include Banff Trail, Montgomery, Parkdale, Point McKay, Saint Andrews Heights, University Heights, University District, Varsity, and The University of Calgary.

FAQs


You'll find answers to the most frequently asked questions below. These questions will be updated throughout the project.

No. Adoption of a local area plan does not result in the rezoning (redesignation) of land. Local area plans provide direction to help inform decisions about development if/ when proposals to rezone are brought forward by property/ landowners in the area.

If a land use rezoning were brought forward by a property/ landowner, it would be reviewed for alignment with the local area plan (if one were in place and approved by Council). If a local area plan is not in place, applications to rezone would be reviewed against the direction of broader Council-approved plans such as the Municipal Development Plan. Any proposal to rezone or redesignate a parcel must always include opportunities for public involvement and notification.

The City of Calgary may propose to redesignate (rezone) land and does so periodically in connection with initiatives such as the Main Streets program or the Land Use Bylaw; however, no rezoning is being proposed in connection with the South Shaganappi Communities Local Area Plan. Any proposals to rezone or redesignate a parcel must always include opportunities for public involvement and notification.

While Calgary’s population has been growing approximately 1.8 per cent every year since 1985, the peak population within 86 per cent of Calgary’s established communities has declined.

Population stability within established communities is essential to support local schools, businesses, services, amenities and infrastructure. Greater housing choice and diversity supports increased population and stabilization within Calgary’s established communities and ensures people can stay in their communities longer.

Expanding the types of homes that can be built is a great way to improve housing choice in a community naturally over time – in turn supporting population and community stability.

Feedback provided by participants helps shape the local area plan as it is created.

Input provided by the participants helps the project team understand perspectives, opinions and concerns throughout the all phases of the project. Input collected in each phase of the project helps influence and inform the concepts and policies that are created and refined throughout the process. Throughout the project, the project team will share what was heard, highlighted the key themes raised, and provided responses for how key themes were addressed and considered.

Although it would be a great outcome, the goal of public engagement is not to reach consensus or make everyone happy. Public engagement is about considering the input, ideas and perspectives of those who are interested in or impacted by decisions, before decisions are made. Participant input is an important part of local area planning, but is one of many areas of consideration. Other areas include: City policies, professional expertise, current context and trends, and equity which all factor into the ultimate decision-making process and concept development.


Public input provided in each phase of the engagement process is compiled, reviewed and considered as each chapter of the local area plan is created.

PAST ENGAGEMENT


Engagement pages, summaries and detailed reports


PHASE 1: ENVISION


Feedback provided by participants helps shape the local area plan as it is created.

Input provided by the participants helps the project team understand perspectives, opinions and concerns throughout the all phases of the project. Input collected in each phase of the project helps influence and inform the concepts and policies that are created and refined throughout the process. Throughout the project, the project team will share what was heard, highlighted the key themes raised, and provided responses for how key themes were addressed and considered.

Although it would be a great outcome, the goal of public engagement is not to reach consensus or make everyone happy. Public engagement is about considering the input, ideas and perspectives of those who are interested in or impacted by decisions, before decisions are made. Participant input is an important part of local area planning, but is one of many areas of consideration. Other areas include: City policies, professional expertise, current context and trends, and equity which all factor into the ultimate decision-making process and concept development.


Public input provided in each phase of the engagement process is compiled, reviewed and considered as each chapter of the local area plan is created.


Review the What We Heard & What We Did reports from each phase of the project for details.

GET INVOLVED

Your voice matters. Your feedback and the feedback of your neighbours is needed to help shape how your community and the surrounding area evolves over the next 30 years.

Get involved in each phase as the South Shaganappi Communities Local Area Plan is created and refined.