Edmonton Minute: Density Rejected, Chinatown Crime, and Modest Convention Centre Damage

This Week In Edmonton:

• Starting at 9:30 am today there will be a City Council meeting until 5:30 pm. Council will consider a modest 18-item agenda including expropriation of a right of way for the Valley Line West Light Rail Transit Project, the City Waste Reduction Roadmap, a confidential update on a collective bargaining agreement, and more. If the meeting doesn't conclude on Monday, it will resume on Wednesday at 9:30 am.

• On Tuesday at 1:30 pm there will be a City Council Public Hearing to consider 23 zoning amendments, mostly minor in nature.
• Finally, on Wednesday, (guess it's going to be a LONG weekend for Council) the City Council meeting will continue if needed, and at 1:30 pm there will be a Special City Council meeting to consider a confidential verbal report on the City Auditor Recruitment Process. After such a long appointment process, we can only assume Edmonton's new auditor will be uncovering waste like nobody's business!

Last Week In Edmonton:

• One week after the Edmonton Convention Centre ended its temporary role as a winter homeless shelter, media were given a tour of the facility to see how it fared, but only after media (and even Councillors) had previously been refused access. There had been rumours of extensive damage to the facility and, while these rumours appear unfounded, Mayor Iveson has said that repairs will cost "fewer than six figures".
• A report presented by the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative Society of Edmonton (CTCYEG) says that the future of Chinatown is in peril, noting in particular that the area was suffering from high crime and a lack of cleanliness. The Society was forced to pay for a private security patrol of the area last year, even though the Edmonton Police Headquarters is located just 3 minutes away.
• Finally, Council turned down a proposal from a developer to add an additional 450 units to the Holyrood Gardens mixed-use development at 83rd Street and 93rd Avenue. The company wanted to increase the number of units from 1,200 units to 1,650, saying this would help them adapt to new financial realities caused by COVID and low oil prices. They also noted that the original application proposed 1,800 units. Holyrood’s community league opposed the proposed change for the same reason they opposed the original plan, saying that it would mean less green space in the area.