Alberta government's infill mandate lays out what Edmonton needs to change

It's been two weeks since the province announced it's forcing Edmonton to change its infill rules and now the city has a clear picture of what its zoning bylaws will look like. A newly written mandate from the government is laying out exactly what the city is expected to change by the end of its three-month grace period. I need to go through what that actually looks like, how we would be able to fulfill all of the requirements that we talked about two weeks ago around proper public engagements, to ensure a fair process public hearing. All of that needs to be reviewed, so still very early days. Similarly to Premier Daniel Smith's original announcement, the directive calls on Edmonton to alter its density and height regulations to resemble what they were before 2024. It also lays out changing rules around parking to reflect what was in place before July 2020. Planning is that intersect between finding out how we move forward with change. Dave Onischenko, a development consultant here in Edmonton, says it's great to finally see some clarity given to that directive. We had a lot of infill, and infill that's been growing in popularity and format and densities over the past decade in Edmonton. It started with an infill roadmap and changes to the zoning bylaw. So this isn't a complete erosion or removal of infill, but really just a repositioning. Onischenko hopes this change will open up conversations with the community to work together. There will be gaps. There will be issues that emerge in the process. And those are things that everybody will discuss and work out as we go along. This member of the Edmonton-based Residential Infill Working Group says she agrees with these regulation changes. It is all about the outcomes and comparability, not necessarily tearing apart the new bylaw or going back to the old one, but focusing on where the problems really are and changing those pieces. Edmonton now has the next two and a half months to change its infill rules to mirror what's laid out in this provincial mandate. Tristan Watershed, CBC News, Edmonton.