Is there any way that the city can put a stop to the building of the McDonalds at Village Square in the NE, considering the bums in the planning department screwed up the permit approval? That is going to be such a mess....
What happened was when the file transferred from one planner to another it was believed the DP had been circulated to the community association and alderman, when it actually hadn't. Although Administration backs its decision to approve based on the technical merits, and it was advertised, it admitted the mistake in process (although CA and Alderman circulation are not legislative requirements, it is normal practice). As such, no ability to appeal now that the appeal period has passed. I encouraged the applicant to go to the community meeting last Friday to answer questions and engage with the community, which they did. I also understand they are going to talk to the City a bit further about the application and hopefully more with the community.
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What happened was when the file transferred from one planner to another it was believed the DP had been circulated to the community association and alderman, when it actually hadn't. Although Administration backs its decision to approve based on the technical merits, and it was advertised, it admitted the mistake in process (although CA and Alderman circulation are not legislative requirements, it is normal practice). As such, no ability to appeal now that the appeal period has passed. I encouraged the applicant to go to the community meeting last Friday to answer questions and engage with the community, which they did. I also understand they are going to talk to the City a bit further about the application and hopefully more with the community.
Ya, the communities and their associations aren't impressed. Apparently the property managers have been trying for the last 5 years or so to put something in there, with the last communication to the community being a year and a half or so ago, where rejections were supposedly written up by, at least, the Rundle and Pineridge associations. There is just no room to put anything else there without screwing up traffic, parking, businesses in the mall, and making it even more dangerous for kids from the school.
Ya, the communities and their associations aren't impressed. Apparently the property managers have been trying for the last 5 years or so to put something in there, with the last communication to the community being a year and a half or so ago, where rejections were supposedly written up by, at least, the Rundle and Pineridge associations. There is just no room to put anything else there without screwing up traffic, parking, businesses in the mall, and making it even more dangerous for kids from the school.
5 years? There was a proposal to build a Wendy's in that corner when I was in high school at Pearson, in 1993-1996.
I don't know how the parking is going to be handled, as that lot is often close to full during the day. But then again, the high school students crossing the street aren't going to taking up parking stalls, and evening customers don't come when all the mall shops are open. I don't know the answer.
I don't think a McDonalds there is going to significantly increase the number of students crossing the street, as they probably already do to go to the mall.
The growth strategy as wanted by the Calgary housing industry is a ponzi scheme for municipal finances of monumental proportions. Please see the first 10 minutes of this video for just a very clear explanation:
edit: Minutes 11:30 to 16:00 are also very good
Last edited by Tinordi; 10-21-2013 at 01:57 PM.
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On the gripe of tearing up the street for infills. Who runs the show on these?
Our water has been turned off for the second time in a month without any notice because of an "Emergency" even though the emergency turns out to be to put in the lines to the new infills going up on the street. I know it is not an emergency because the equipment to do the digging up was being delivered to the area yesterday. Just put a fataing note in the mailbox. We have a load in the washing machine.
Bunk is there an actual way to make a complaint external to the totally useless 311 who can only repeat what comes up on their screen. Someone probably forgot to notify the street, realized it after the first complaint then made up an 'emergency' excuse like last time and now it reflects poorly on the city.
Or maybe I am wrong and the developers across the street did this. Either way we are going to piss and crap in a bucket for the rest of the day and dump it in the pit while their working and say its alright, it was an emergency.
Thank-you neighbor! I'm so sick and tired of the streets being dug up in our neighborhood. The hilarious thing is that they finally actually re-paved my entire street about a month ago and 3 days after they finished, the infill going in next door digs up the street to hook up services. I grew up in the country and I think the gravel roads out there were in better shape than 26 ST SW is currently in, and with all the dumpsters, dump trucks, construction workers parking their truck a foot and a half from the curb there's no room for 2 cars to pass each other on that road.
I better stop, this probably belongs in the WRGMG thread.
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On the gripe of tearing up the street for infills. Who runs the show on these?
Our water has been turned off for the second time in a month without any notice because of an "Emergency" even though the emergency turns out to be to put in the lines to the new infills going up on the street. I know it is not an emergency because the equipment to do the digging up was being delivered to the area yesterday. Just put a fataing note in the mailbox. We have a load in the washing machine.
Bunk is there an actual way to make a complaint external to the totally useless 311 who can only repeat what comes up on their screen. Someone probably forgot to notify the street, realized it after the first complaint then made up an 'emergency' excuse like last time and now it reflects poorly on the city.
Or maybe I am wrong and the developers across the street did this. Either way we are going to piss and crap in a bucket for the rest of the day and dump it in the pit while their working and say its alright, it was an emergency.
If someone is digging on an "emergency" that is a non-emergency, send an email to info@albertaonecall.com and let them know the emergency location process is being abused. The City Of Calgary Water Service typically looks down on this pretty sternly, and fines can be levied for abusing the process.
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When is the Bow River Pathway on the south bank of the river between downtown and Edworthy park going to be repaired? Right now it just plummets into the water like you've reached the end of the world.
The growth strategy as wanted by the Calgary housing industry is a ponzi scheme for municipal finances of monumental proportions. Please see the first 10 minutes of this video for just a very clear explanation:
edit: Minutes 11:30 to 16:00 are also very good
The entire video is quite good, especially the shocking photos illustrating what late 20th-century suburban sprawl and planning did to once vibrant streets and cities.
Congrats to Nenshi and your team Bunk. I hope you guys can keep up the great work you are doing for our city. I look forward to four more years of progressive thinking.
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That was a really interesting video. Makes me wonder what applying similar logic to Calgary would result in.
It's directly applicable to Calgary. Calgary is basically the story of that city at the beginning of the video. Paying for existing liabilities with development fees and new taxes from new developments, which will have even bigger liabilities in the future. That system simply cannot continue. Nenshi understands that, the for profit development industry caring only about yearly returns could give a fig.
The entire video is quite good, especially the shocking photos illustrating what late 20th-century suburban sprawl and planning did to once vibrant streets and cities.
I'm not exactly a suburbs for everyone kind of guy, and I would end all subsidies if I was in charge. But this comment is intellectually dishonest.
You're assuming cause and effect when all you have is correlation.
You say "suburbs caused downtown areas to atrophy when people left."
couldn't it just as easily be
"Suburbs sprung up so people leaving downtown areas that were dying had somewhere to go"?
I'm really not sure why anyone is on the side of subsidized urban sprawl, to be honest. Even those of us with 2.4 kids that live in the burbs don't want sprawl to be subsidized, because removing the subsidization will probably reduce the amount of available suburb options, and probably increase the value of my home. Not to mention the fact that I'm currently paying to subsidize this growth that I'm not benefitting from in the least.
Honestly, I think a lot (most?) of it is the fact that the developers fund the media who in turn delivers the developers' message, which is then digested by the common man.
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I'm really not sure why anyone is on the side of subsidized urban sprawl, to be honest. Even those of us with 2.4 kids that live in the burbs don't want sprawl to be subsidized, because removing the subsidization will probably reduce the amount of available suburb options, and probably increase the value of my home. Not to mention the fact that I'm currently paying to subsidize this growth that I'm not benefitting from in the least.
Honestly, I think a lot (most?) of it is the fact that the developers fund the media who in turn delivers the developers' message, which is then digested by the common man.
I had pretty much this exact same conversation with my wife last night. The developers (and their media friends in the Sun and conservative talk radio) framed the subsidy debate as being inner-city vs. suburbs, but it's really not. The only people who should support the subsidy are those who are planning to buy a brand new home on the outskirts of the city. Whether you live in a condo in Sunnyside, an apartment in the Beltline, or a single family home in MacKenzie Towne, the sprawl subsidy does nothing to benefit you.
Why is Silverado in Ward 14, when being in Ward 13 makes way more sense?
Maybe it's time for a Ward 15. When does this stuff even get looked at and do changes even happen all that often?
It's reviewed every election. With geographic barriers and fast shifting populations, it's a real challenge for the elections office to create a perfect geographically harmonious wards and a balanced population across wards.
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On the gripe of tearing up the street for infills. Who runs the show on these?
Our water has been turned off for the second time in a month without any notice because of an "Emergency" even though the emergency turns out to be to put in the lines to the new infills going up on the street. I know it is not an emergency because the equipment to do the digging up was being delivered to the area yesterday. Just put a fataing note in the mailbox. We have a load in the washing machine.
Bunk is there an actual way to make a complaint external to the totally useless 311 who can only repeat what comes up on their screen. Someone probably forgot to notify the street, realized it after the first complaint then made up an 'emergency' excuse like last time and now it reflects poorly on the city.
Or maybe I am wrong and the developers across the street did this. Either way we are going to piss and crap in a bucket for the rest of the day and dump it in the pit while their working and say its alright, it was an emergency.
Good comment. It's an issue we'd like to look into this term. I'll let you know how things go.
