The future of single-family home communities is at stake

The Guidebook for Great Communities is going to Council on March 22, 2021. 

If you haven’t heard of the Guidebook to this point, it has the potential to significantly alter the nature of communities across Calgary, particularly as it relates to the future of single-family home communities.

The Cambrian Heights Community Association (CHCA), like many other community associations across the City, has expressed concerns about some of the proposals in the Guidebook.  As highlighted in a Calgary Herald insert this morning:

“The new policy for low-density residential development called “Neighbourhood Local” mixes housing forms (single detached, duplexes, semi-detached and row housing) which could lead to changes to existing density, height, setbacks, lot sizes and lot coverage and puts mature trees at risk.”

While below you will find links to various materials about the Guidebook, the Brentwood Community Association (BCA), a close neighbour to Cambrian Heights, has produced a very informative document that summarizes their concerns. The CHCA shares these concerns. The BCA document can be found here:
www.brentwoodcommunity.com/2021/03/12/guidebook-for-great-communities

There are a variety of other sources for further information about the Guidebook as well; some are official City websites and some are private links.

The City of Calgary’s Guidebook website is:
https://www.calgary.ca/pda/pd/current-studies-and-ongoing-activities/guidebook-for-great-communities.html

Other individuals and Community Associations have posted materials here:

• A Facebook site has been created here … facebook.com/groups/1337271716651346
• This Guidebook link was created to provide some useful links and other background materials … calgaryguidebook.ca

For those that are interested, there is still an opportunity to participate in a City of Calgary hosted Guidebook 101 session. The next session is on March 16^th, and the details can be found here … https://guidebook101-mar16.eventbrite.ca

If you would like to comment on the Guidebook:

Contact Ward 4 Councillor Sean Chu (Ward 4 includes Cambrian Heights)

• Phone: 403-268-3727
• Email:  ward04@calgary.ca

Contact The Mayor and City Council

• Email The Mayor: themayor@calgary.ca
• Email all City Councillors: councillorweb@calgary.ca (redistributed to all Councillors)

Submit written comments prior to the meeting via http://calgary.ca/publicsubmission

• Comments must be received by March 15^th at noon to be included in the Councillors’ package delivered by the end of the week

Speak at the March 22^nd Council meeting

• Contact the City Clerk’s Office to register to speak (details for registering to speak can be found here – https://www.calgary.ca/ca/city-clerks/get-involved-with-city-council.html