After a marathon three-day public hearing, city council has given first reading to Plan It, Calgary’s long-range growth blueprint to curb urban sprawl.
More than 100 Calgarians spoke to council regarding Plan It, while others watched the city’s streaming Internet broadcast and discussed the hearing on Twitter. “Once people understood how important this discussion was, there was a lot of interest,” says Mary Axworthy, the city’s director of land use planning and policy. If approved, the plan will slowly shift Calgary’s growth from the outskirts to established neighbourhoods.
After Calgarians argued for and against the plan, council proposed 76 amendments, asking city administration to come up with a report on them by year’s end. “That’s one thing we’re holding our breath about,” says Noel Keough of Sustainable Calgary, a supporter of the plan. The city isn’t making the amendments public until later this month.
Axworthy says the amendments are about clarifying the targets set in the plan. After council gets its report on the amendments later this year, the plan will still need to pass second and third reading to be approved.
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