By Karen Robinson & Lisa MacCuish
Published in the August 2024 Bonavista Bugle
If you have been following the news over the past few months, you are aware that Calgary City Council passed a new land use bylaw that changes the zoning of residential neighbourhoods in Calgary to R-G and R-CG. R-CG (Residential Contextual Grade-Oriented) zoning supports and encourages multi-family dwellings on single lots and will be the new zoning for Lake Bonavista. Prior to this change most of Lake Bonavista was zoned R-C1. R-C1 zoning allows one home per lot, has minimum setbacks, and allows 45% lot coverage.
Effective August 2024, a standard 50’ x 120’ lot could be redeveloped from one unit to up to 12 units (4 primary units + 4 basement suites + 4 garage suites). Larger lots will be able to accommodate proportionally more units. The zoning allows 60% of a lot to be covered by the building footprint, has a “flexible” front setback, and only requires 1/2 a parking stall per dwelling unit.
Obviously, the change from R-C1 to R-CG zoning will have a dramatic effect on residents in Lake Bonavista because our community is not a blank slate. This impact could be amplified if a developer is able to secure a land assembly and build across adjacent lots (eg. 3 consecutive lots could turn into 36 units). To accommodate the larger building footprints, much green space in the area will have to be eliminated. Larger, taller buildings will tower over existing homes, shading and over- looking their yards. The increased density and minimal parking requirements will also result in overcrowded streets and safety issues for children. The city has stated that they will address crowded street parking with solutions such as permit parking.
For those of us who enjoy and appreciate Lake Bonavista for its quiet roads, attractive streetscapes, adequate parking, mature trees, and low traffic volume, these changes will significantly detract from that enjoyment. Not to mention the potential impact on lake use and development around the lake itself. Our City Council has already demonstrated that it is not receptive to comments and concerns from the communities as seen in the multi-day town hall session the city conducted in late April. Even if we are unhappy with City Council and would like to replace them with new Councillors, the next election is in late 2025 and the changes that this Council has wrought will start to occur this summer.
So, what can YOU do?
It is difficult to fight City Hall, but there is a legal mechanism that allows you to help protect your neighbourhood. A Restrictive Covenant (RC) is a form of agreement between landowners in which one party restricts the use of its land in some way for the benefit of the other landowners and in return that party receives the same benefit. The agreement is between homeowners – the City of Calgary is not involved in it.
RCs are registered on the land title to each property and bind the land rather than the parties personally. In other words, the RC ‘runs with the land’. This means that the RC continues even when the original parties sell the land in the future.
An RC is enforceable by one landowner against another. It is effectively a form of private planning control. If a landowner/developer elects to breach the covenant by trying to subdivide or build a multiplex, the other landowners sharing the covenant can take steps to force the developer to abide by the terms of the RC. The first step would be to send a legal letter informing the developer that they are breaching the RC and could eventually result in court action. Note that court action can be costly, and those costs are borne by the other landowners. For this reason, among others, there is a benefit in having as many people as possible using the same RC to keep costs manageable by spreading them among a larger group of people and creating a significant defence fund.
Lake Bonavista Restrictive Covenant Initiative
Community volunteers have undertaken an initiative for Lake Bonavista residents to establish an RC that can help protect the neighbourhood. We have retained a law firm who specializes in land titles and covenants and drafted an RC that considers our existing community context. The focus of the RC is on preventing subdivision of land and building multi-unit housing (a single secondary suite is still permitted). The RC does not restrict your ability to renovate, build a shed, gazebo or fence, or even rebuild your house. The intent is to maintain the neighbourhood’s character as you experience it today.
There is a cost associated with applying an RC to your title. We have negotiated a “bulk” agreement with the legal firm for $500 per title. Approximately half of the amount covers the cost of document preparation, land title searches, and signing procedures. The other half of this fee goes into a legal defence fund (held in trust) so the community is better prepared to face any court challenges to the RC.
You may have already been contacted about the RC, but if not, volunteer block captains will be going door to door throughout the summer giving residents information about the zoning changes and explaining the benefits of an RC. We believe we can be successful in this effort. While we will not be able to prevent all densification and multi-family homes in the area, we will be able to mitigate the damage. You can help maintain the beauty and character of our neighbourhood by applying an RC and encouraging your neighbours to apply one as well. This is very much a street-by-street effort – you can help prevent these developments from happening next door to you and on your block.
For more information about this RC initiative, or if you would like to volunteer to help spread this message, please contact us.
If you are ready to add the Restrictive Covenant?
There are three steps and a $500 fee to register the Restrictive Covenant on your property:
At the signing meeting you will be asked to sign:
See the homepage for the information on the next signing meeting