A group of 288 concerned Calgarians have had their court case to kill the blanket zoning bylaw moved to 'on or before' November 8. The group raised money to fight the zoning bylaw which allows multi-family homes to be built in areas of the city previously zoned only for single-family homes (also known as exclusionary zoning.) The bylaw was approved by Calgary City Council in May, even though the majority of Calgarians who participated in the largest and longest public hearing in the city’s history said they were against the new bylaw. During the marathon public hearing over two weeks in April and May, 736 Calgarians appeared in council chambers expressing their views on the blanket zoning proposal, with an additional 6,101 written opinions tendered. Of the written submissions, 88% were opposed to the bylaw while 62% of those appearing before council were oppose. However, council in a vote of 9 to 6 ignored the tenets of democracy and approved the blanket zoning bylaw. Robert Lehodey, a retired lawyer, previously filed for a judicial review back in April, asking for a judge to weigh in on council’s decision not to hold a plebiscite on citywide rezoning. Lehodey’s plea failed and he subsequently organized the 288 applicants forming the citizens’ complaint, with concerns ranging from a lack of parking to overloading water infrastructure. The move to hear the case at a later date will give the city’s legal team more time to review a report received by the city’s legal department which noted it had only received the applicants’ materials a week earlier and argued for a delay to have more time to review the documents. “That’s not unfair, but the outcome was quite positive for us because of the number of the people in the courtroom,” said Lehodey. “The obvious gravity and the implication to Calgarians of this upzoning is obviously recognized by the court.” “This isn’t about development per se. It’s about taking your right away without the full consideration by council and study of the infrastructure and impacts on the community.” Also at issue, flying a bit below the radar of blanket zoning, but one much larger than the implications of the bylaw, is whether members of council acted in good faith in coming to their decisions. A press release from Lehodey on June 14, said, “The errors outlined in the Application include bias, acting outside of the authority granted to City Council by the Municipal Government Act (“MGA”), the unreasonable encroachment on private property rights, the wholesale elimination of a citizen’s right to a hearing on a zoning change and the failure to provide accurate and consistent information regarding the impact of the City’s agreement with the Federal Government for Housing Accelerator Funding.” “Having been active participants throughout the public hearing process, Calgarians know first-hand that Council’s decision to impose blanket zoning was not arrived at reasonably or impartially,” said Lehodey in the release. “Through this action Calgarians are seeking to hold City Council accountable for its failure to follow the law and to act fairly in reaching its decision.” A section of the MGA reads, “While the threshold for disqualification for bias may be high for municipal councillors, it’s crucial that municipal councillors do not appear to have a completely closed mind during a hearing. They must be open to persuasion based on the submissions made by participants. Members of the public who present at a public hearing must be heard by councillors who are capable of being persuaded.” Did members of Calgary City Council go into the public hearing on blanket zoning with their minds already made up, eliminating any chance of being “capable of being persuaded?” Only a full judicial review could uncover any collusion, but there is a stark piece of evidence to give it credence, that being, as noted above, the Liberal/NDP Government’s Housing Accelerator Fund. In a letter to Mayor Jyoti Gondek last year, Federal Housing Minister Sean Frasier wrote, “I understand that key elements of (Calgary’s) housing action plan will either be approved or rejected (by council). In light of this I wish to inform you that Calgary’s Housing Accelerator Fund application will not be approved unless you follow through to create the new missing middle zoning designations of H-GO and R-CG as you laid out in your application. Otherwise said, in order to receive a positive decision from me on your application, you must end exclusionary zoning in your city.” Call it a promise, a threat or a bribe, the fact the federal government is sticking its nose into the city’s business, which is governed by the Government of Alberta, is unacceptable. A full review of city council is in order, including all councillors taking an oath they entered the public hearings with no bias either way and were amenable to persuasion through the public hearing. Also included should be a legal seizure of all social media traffic on all councillors’ accounts, leading up to and during the public hearing prior to the vote being taken. Calgarians need to know their city council is fair and plays by the rules.
A group of 288 concerned Calgarians have had their court case to kill the blanket zoning bylaw moved to 'on or before' November 8. The group raised money to fight the zoning bylaw which allows multi-family homes to be built in areas of the city previously zoned only for single-family homes (also known as exclusionary zoning.) The bylaw was approved by Calgary City Council in May, even though the majority of Calgarians who participated in the largest and longest public hearing in the city’s history said they were against the new bylaw. During the marathon public hearing over two weeks in April and May, 736 Calgarians appeared in council chambers expressing their views on the blanket zoning proposal, with an additional 6,101 written opinions tendered. Of the written submissions, 88% were opposed to the bylaw while 62% of those appearing before council were oppose. However, council in a vote of 9 to 6 ignored the tenets of democracy and approved the blanket zoning bylaw. Robert Lehodey, a retired lawyer, previously filed for a judicial review back in April, asking for a judge to weigh in on council’s decision not to hold a plebiscite on citywide rezoning. Lehodey’s plea failed and he subsequently organized the 288 applicants forming the citizens’ complaint, with concerns ranging from a lack of parking to overloading water infrastructure. The move to hear the case at a later date will give the city’s legal team more time to review a report received by the city’s legal department which noted it had only received the applicants’ materials a week earlier and argued for a delay to have more time to review the documents. “That’s not unfair, but the outcome was quite positive for us because of the number of the people in the courtroom,” said Lehodey. “The obvious gravity and the implication to Calgarians of this upzoning is obviously recognized by the court.” “This isn’t about development per se. It’s about taking your right away without the full consideration by council and study of the infrastructure and impacts on the community.” Also at issue, flying a bit below the radar of blanket zoning, but one much larger than the implications of the bylaw, is whether members of council acted in good faith in coming to their decisions. A press release from Lehodey on June 14, said, “The errors outlined in the Application include bias, acting outside of the authority granted to City Council by the Municipal Government Act (“MGA”), the unreasonable encroachment on private property rights, the wholesale elimination of a citizen’s right to a hearing on a zoning change and the failure to provide accurate and consistent information regarding the impact of the City’s agreement with the Federal Government for Housing Accelerator Funding.” “Having been active participants throughout the public hearing process, Calgarians know first-hand that Council’s decision to impose blanket zoning was not arrived at reasonably or impartially,” said Lehodey in the release. “Through this action Calgarians are seeking to hold City Council accountable for its failure to follow the law and to act fairly in reaching its decision.” A section of the MGA reads, “While the threshold for disqualification for bias may be high for municipal councillors, it’s crucial that municipal councillors do not appear to have a completely closed mind during a hearing. They must be open to persuasion based on the submissions made by participants. Members of the public who present at a public hearing must be heard by councillors who are capable of being persuaded.” Did members of Calgary City Council go into the public hearing on blanket zoning with their minds already made up, eliminating any chance of being “capable of being persuaded?” Only a full judicial review could uncover any collusion, but there is a stark piece of evidence to give it credence, that being, as noted above, the Liberal/NDP Government’s Housing Accelerator Fund. In a letter to Mayor Jyoti Gondek last year, Federal Housing Minister Sean Frasier wrote, “I understand that key elements of (Calgary’s) housing action plan will either be approved or rejected (by council). In light of this I wish to inform you that Calgary’s Housing Accelerator Fund application will not be approved unless you follow through to create the new missing middle zoning designations of H-GO and R-CG as you laid out in your application. Otherwise said, in order to receive a positive decision from me on your application, you must end exclusionary zoning in your city.” Call it a promise, a threat or a bribe, the fact the federal government is sticking its nose into the city’s business, which is governed by the Government of Alberta, is unacceptable. A full review of city council is in order, including all councillors taking an oath they entered the public hearings with no bias either way and were amenable to persuasion through the public hearing. Also included should be a legal seizure of all social media traffic on all councillors’ accounts, leading up to and during the public hearing prior to the vote being taken. Calgarians need to know their city council is fair and plays by the rules.
