Edmonton city councillor and mayoral candidate calls for infill moratorium

Madeleine Cummings · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 24, 2025 7:38 PM EDT | Last Updated: 32 minutes ago

Mayoral campaigner and Ward pihêsiwin Coun. Tim Cartmell is calling for a moratorium connected infill improvement and said helium plans to determination a question astatine Edmonton metropolis council's nationalist proceeding adjacent week targeting ample mid-block buildings.

Cartmell announced his program successful a quality merchandise connected Tuesday, saying the city's infill strategy has moved excessively accelerated and "we request to pause, reflect, and hole what's breached earlier we o.k. much of the same." 

The merchandise said his question would spot a moratorium connected each caller infill development, but Cartmell said successful an interrogation that it would use chiefly to mid-block developments portion the metropolis re-examines plans for its 15 "districts," oregon collections of neighbourhoods.

Cartmell said it's not the smaller infill developments — like duplexes and skinny homes — angering radical successful older neighbourhoods, but the large, monolithic buildings that person been popping up betwixt single-family homes. 

"It's those precise provocative developments that we request to get successful beforehand of," helium said.

Cartmell's announcement comes astir a week earlier a nationalist proceeding successful which amendments to Edmonton's revamped zoning bylaw volition beryllium discussed. 

The zoning bylaw, which came into effect past twelvemonth and streamlined the city's zoning regulations to let for much infill improvement and density crossed the city, has been divisive.

Its proponents accidental it is accelerating lodging improvement during a nationalist lodging affordability situation — determination was a 30 per cent summation successful approved units past year, aft the bylaw was enacted — and volition prevention the metropolis wealth since it's overmuch much costly to work caller neighbourhoods. 

Critics of the bylaw person taken contented with the gait and standard of improvement it permits, saying much ample multi-unit buildings volition fundamentally alteration their neighbourhoods' character. They have raised concerns astir traffic, parking, histrion nonaccomplishment and exigency conveyance access, among different issues.

Cartmell, who voted to enactment zoning bylaw renewal and wrote successful a blog station past summertime that helium "absolutely support[s] infill," said a important magnitude of the enactment done to rewrite the bylaw was positive.

He said helium doesn't privation a instrumentality to discretionary approvals, but alternatively a departure from a "one-size-fits-all" approach. He said neighbourhoods' differences should beryllium incorporated into the city's infill policies.

"I fearfulness that if we don't really statesman listening to the radical that are affected, we're going to suffer it all," helium said.

Evan Wood, a spokesperson with SaveYEG, a radical warring against caller zoning changes, said helium was pleased to spot Cartmell telephone for a intermission connected infill.

He said SaveYEG wants to spot mature neighbourhoods protected against maturation that is unreasonable and unsafe.

"This is simply a bully commencement and I'm hopeful immoderate different councillors volition leap connected board," helium said.

Jacob Dawang, an advocator with Grow Together Edmonton, called Cartmell's connection a "completely irresponsible move" that could pb to higher taxes, rents and lodging costs.

"It's specified a ridiculous proposition for a large metropolis similar Edmonton, that's increasing similar we are, that it does instrumentality maine aback," helium said. 

WATCH | Eightplexes person already been debated astatine metropolis hall:

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, who is not moving for re-election this fall, said the metropolis needs to proceed connected the way of allowing much infill improvement for fiscal and biology reasons.

"When opportunities travel to refurbish oregon demolish and physique new, creating conditions to physique a fourplex oregon duplex oregon sixplex is the close attack to take," helium said astatine an unrelated quality league connected Tuesday.

City council's municipality readying committee voted earlier this period to enactment amending the zoning bylaw to trim the fig of allowable units successful mid-block enactment houses from 8 to six.

Cartmell has said helium intends to enactment that change.

Sean Sedgwick, the enforcement manager of the Infill Development successful Edmonton Association (IDEA), urged metropolis councillors successful a missive Tuesday to not o.k. that simplification and different projected changes.

In a connection to CBC News, helium said restrictive zoning practices constraining the proviso of lodging are a large origin of lodging unaffordability successful different Canadian cities and calling for a moratorium connected infill homes would recreate the occupation successful Edmonton.

"IDEA firmly believes that infill volition assistance our mature neighbourhoods stay sustainable, vibrant places that adjacent much radical tin enjoy," helium said.