Latest news with #MunicipalDevelopmentPlan
Calgary Herald
20 hours ago
- Business
- Calgary Herald
'We're at a critical point': City committee endorses updated action plan to incentivize industrial development
In a bid to incentivize more warehouses and factory-style businesses to set up shop within Calgary's boundaries, the city is updating its industrial action plan. Article content Calgary's industrial growth has stagnated in the last 10 years. Rather than establish operations within city limits, many corporations have instead chosen to set up manufacturing plants or distribution centres in Rocky View County, where land is cheaper, taxes are lower and development levies are less cumbersome. Article content Article content Article content Balzac, in particular, has become a logistics and transportation hub for many conglomerates in the last decade. The Rocky View County hamlet just north of Calgary city limits is now home to distribution centres for Amazon, Lowe's, Walmart and Sobey's, among others. Article content Article content A report from Avison Young determined the region outside of Calgary was responsible for 90 per cent of net new building in the Calgary region from 2018 to 2024. Article content 'Cost pressures felt on land development and business operations are currently making Calgary a less attractive option within the region and developers are not starting new industrial parks within the city,' said Lesley Kalmakoff, coordinator of the city's growth strategy. Article content With the goal of addressing what's often dubbed the 'county advantage,' Calgary city council's infrastructure and planning committee on Wednesday unanimously endorsed a new industrial action plan, as part of a citywide growth strategy. Article content Article content The action plan — updated from a previous plan that council approved in 2021 — aims to leverage Calgary's strengths against its rural neighbours; convert land uses to enable more industrial or mixed-use development; and improve the city's overall attractiveness to industrial businesses. Article content Article content The plan proposes to assess conversion opportunities to achieve a mix of industrial, commercial and residential land uses; amend the Municipal Development Plan to enable residential and industrial development in targeted locations; and update the industrial land use districts in the new zoning bylaw, among other recommendations. Article content The city's strengths, according to the report, include Calgary's location, labour pool, existing industrial networks and city services that include readily available fire and police response, as well as access to a public transportation network.
Calgary Herald
16-05-2025
- General
- Calgary Herald
Biodiversity advisory committee gives city council failing grade on habitat restoration
With the City of Calgary's 10-year biodiversity strategy wrapping up this year, the plan's advisory committee will present a mixed report card to council next week. Article content Article content The Our BiodiverCity strategic plan was launched in 2015, with a decade-long mandate to manage and protect Calgary's natural and built environments and support biodiversity. Article content The plan included four guiding principles and three targets to measure the plan's success by 2025: reversing habitat loss, protecting important ecological zones and managing invasive species. Article content Article content The Biodiversity Advisory Committee, which was struck to oversee the strategy and is being disbanded this year, was made up of city administration and public members who had either an interest in biodiversity, or a professional or educational background relating to the topic. Article content Article content In a press release, public members of the committee said they have graded council's performance on 10 of the biodiversity strategy's intended outcomes. Article content Council (which has seen turnover twice since the strategy was implemented, considering the results of the 2017 and 2021 elections) scored a grade of A- or less on eight of the 10 outcomes, according to committee member Sara Jordan-McLachlan. Article content She commended council's focus on biodiversity education and outreach, as well as its ability to get the city's ecological network entrenched in the Municipal Development Plan and the city's new parks plan, which is being rolled out this year. Article content 'Prioritizing that connectivity of habitat through the city and connections for green spaces throughout the entire city is a very positive step,' Jordan-McLachlan said. Article content Article content Another positive was council's willingness to increase funding for programs related to biodiversity, which garnered an A-, according to Jordan-McLachlan. Article content However, she noted council received a D+ in habitat restoration, as only 53 per cent of the strategy's target was met. Article content She criticized council's recent rejection of a notice of motion from Ward 11 Coun. Kourtney Penner, which sought to naturalize the sides of the city's roadways by reducing mowing and by planting more native flowers and plant species. Council's rejection stemmed from concerns over the total cost and the complexity of implementing the plan.
