Council News in Brief - Strategic meeting: March 6, 2015

Council News in Brief - Pilot
Strategic Meeting of Council - Link to agenda
March 6, 2015

BUILD CALGARY UPDATE
Build Calgary’s mandate was recently rolled out to City of Calgary staff, members of City Council, industry partners and the public at large. The work over the past few weeks has focused on forming project charters for the five Build Calgary initiatives: off-site levy bylaw, legislative framework, land supply process, regional coordination, and commercial/industrial/transit oriented development.

Administration provided a formal update focusing on the work that has been done to date, including the following highlights:

Off-site levy bylaw
An external advisory team has been developed which will help determine what the new bylaw looks like (ie: what is included, what is excluded). The bylaw essentially determines what infrastructure costs are handled by the City of Calgary and which are handled by the developers. The target date to have a new off-site levy bylaw implemented is January 1, 2016.

Land supply process
The City of Calgary, Urban Development Institute (Calgary) and Canadian Home Builders’ Association (Calgary) jointly delivered a lot supply report to members of industry on Feb. 13. The presentation was a big step forward in the stakeholders working together to ensure the most accurate information on lot supply is available in Calgary.

Commercial/industrial/transit oriented development
Two chartering sessions have been held with the internal team. Work plans will now be developed as Build Calgary is tasked with growing the non-residential tax base.

Legislative framework
The legislative framework comprises development of a City Charter and review of the Municipal Government Act. The City of Calgary is in the process of developing a City Charter which will provide us with the tools to manage growth, provide services and remain competitive with similar national and international municipalities.

The MGA, meanwhile, is the law under which all Alberta municipalities are empowered to manage their daily operations to meet their mandate of providing good government, delivering desirable services and developing viable communities. The Government of Alberta is currently reviewing the MGA, with input from Alberta’s municipalities.

Regional coordination
A report was recently presented a report to Intergovernmental Affairs on options the City of Calgary could pursue in the absence of a legislated Calgary Metropolitan Plan. The goal is to continue work to legislate the CMP and, in the face of some opposition, administrators are looking at other options on the best way to ensure an efficient and sustainable metropolitan region.

Further updates will be provided to Council as the work progresses.

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Council News in Brief is an informal summary of highlights from Calgary City Council’s meetings. The City Clerk provides the complete and formal documentation of Council’s meetings.