Changes to development notices in Calgary

The City of Calgary is implementing changes to make development notices easier to read for Calgarians.

When development or building projects are underway in Calgary, the City posts notices to keep the public informed on what is going on. However, up until now, these notices have been somewhat complex for the average person to really understand, without an extensive background in development (with acronyms and uncommon abbreviations). Now the City is piloting changes which involve better language and the City has also introduced an updated development map that explains the builds in detail.

Rylan Graham, PhD candidate with the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary said the city’s moving in the right direction with their latest update. “I think what the city is proposing now is more reflective and in line with what’s being applied in other Canadian cities,” said Graham. “The language is clear and concise, and the incorporation of visuals like maps and renderings will better communicate to interested parties what is being proposed.” [Metro Calgary]

The City has been developing these proposed changes for a year now, and they have already posted a few signs at developments to garner some feedback from Calgarians on the notices. The online feedback form is open until September 15th if you would like to give feedback on these piloted development notices. These proposed changes will be reviewed along with the feedback, and designs will be updated and tested again in November of this year. All of these changes are intended to improve education and experience for Calgarians, and help us move towards a city that is more involved in the development projects. Overall, this is a great move by the city, it’s great to keep our citizens engaged on development!
If you’re interested in learning more about development in Calgary, check out the City of Calgary development map (link above), or check out Smarter Growth, a great online resource on this topic.