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Edmonton Journal

Tuesday's letters: Unchecked infill adding to climate crisis

Article content Kudos to Victor Lieffers for pointing out the city's failure to enact policies which would address the climate emergency declared in 2019. By pushing barely regulated densification without requiring environmentally sustainable building practices from developers, council is adding to the climate crisis. Article content Article content Mature neighbourhoods with large forest canopies, mature shrubs and gardens provide relief from increasing heat. The failure to protect private trees and landscaping has allowed developers to remove all greenery from older yards, then fill up lots with maximal-sized dwellings and pavement, depriving neighbours of heat-mitigation effects along with other downsides, such as loss of privacy. In this so-called bird-friendly city, removal of nesting sites and cover provided by mature trees and shrubs is anything but friendly. Edmonton's designation as a biophilic city is also at risk with this reckless disregard for private greenery. Article content Article content Previous city planning suggestions that development would proceed by 'gentle densification' has been proven wrong. Large development companies are snapping up mature lots and destroying the ecosystems which make the older neighbourhoods attractive, all in the name of maximal profit and enabled by our current city council. Let's hope that a new council will take the climate emergency seriously. Article content Article content Crucial to any free world democracy are financially stable, uncensored newspapers and magazines. Fewer print media in the private sector are able to find it profitable when AI or software giants hijack their news, without paying for it. Canada cannot afford to have either an uninformed or captive electorate. And that means preserving a robust, competitive, financially secure print sector. Article content Article content Martin Katz, Edmonton Article content The City of Edmonton's infill debate seems very myopic on the part of our elected officials. Infill development is needed to prevent sprawl; I accept that. However, asking homeowners to suddenly change everything while their neighbour becomes a monolithic two- and six-plex is a tall order. Article content If the city wants to show respect to these effects, they should also be changing the fence bylaws to allow eight-foot fences between multi-resident homes and single-family dwellings. Seems simple. Article content Canada has become a country that has: banned a Christian singer from singing; seized and closed bank accounts of Canadians that disagreed with the government; is recommending a prison term of seven years for a non-violent political protester to silence other political protesters.