Why vacant green spaces in your neighborhood might become residential — or not

The City of Calgary's zoning bylaw was passed earlier this week, including a provision to review current zoning on vacant green space.

That means the city looks at vacant land on city property to determine if it's properly zoned. Some spaces currently zoned for residential development may be repurposed as parkland.

On the other hand, some vacant lots can be zoned for future housing.

7th District. Terry Wong offered a fix on Tuesday.

“It's taking properties that are currently green space or park space, but zoned as residential, and ask the administration to go back and rezone them to the appropriate land use,” Wong said when proposing the amendment.

8th district. According to Courtney Walcott, the city has had conflicts in the past between communities over green space.

“(Community members) said it was a park, but it was just a vacant lot for 30 years,” he said.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek said she believes it is important to be clear to the public.

“Sometimes we do what we know as an administration and a council,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said.

“We know what's allowed in certain land-use districts, so we take that as common.”

An increase in residential construction is expected due to the city's expansion plan, which Gondek noted could increase people's appreciation for community green spaces.

Leslie Evans, executive director of the Federation of Calgary Communities, agrees.

“These are park spaces that are going to be needed as the density comes into the community,” Evans said.

The council did not say when the review should be completed.

“Even though the community and residents felt the council didn't listen to the redistricting request, there were a lot of adjustments that needed to be digested, understood and moved forward to see if we could go to a better place,” Evans said.