Changes to a nearly 50-year-old law will make it easier for some Calgarians to develop their property.
New amendments to the Airport Vicinity Protection Area will make development easier for people in the communities of Inglewood, Vista Heights and Mayland Heights.
Since the 1970s, hundreds of people in these neighbourhoods have had to jump through a lot of hoops if they wanted to do something like subdivide, add a secondary suite or build another unit on their property.
Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra said not only would they have to get the city’s permission, but they would also need the province, airport authority, county and any other interested groups to sign off.
“Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of property owners who, fairly arbitrarily, were not allowed to legally do what any other property owner with a similar land use designation across the city and sometimes right over the line right next to them were allowed to do,” Carra said.
“To use the provincial government’s terminology, it cuts the red tape.”
The Calgary Airport Authority said the AVPA regulation is still important when it comes to managing development in the area.
“We supported increasing low-density developments,” spokesperson Reid Fiest said. “The updated regulations will allow more development options for landowners and residents of these communities.”
Going forward, the airport authority and city will now put together a report for all Calgarians to review.
That public feedback will influence major projects in the area such as The Grid, a proposed 16-storey condo building in Inglewood.
The review process will start by the end of the year.
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