CTV News Edmonton has reported:

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack says the city still has no written instructions explaining how to comply with Alberta’s order to reverse zoning changes, nearly a week after the province announced the directive. City staff and development industry representatives are left trying to determine what changes are required and how the province will judge whether Edmonton has met its demands.

“Sadly, we don’t really know anything more. There’s nothing in writing yet,” Knack said. “So we’re left guessing, and that’s really challenging if you’re supposed to be updating your zoning regulations.” Premier Danielle Smith and Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams announced on Thursday that Edmonton must undo its 2024 zoning bylaw changes concerning housing types, density and height, and restore on-site parking requirements that applied before 2020.

Knack said the city has only three months to comply, while the province has not provided clear criteria for assessing compliance. “Even if they had had the written directive on the day they actually made the announcement it would still be hard to meet that timeline,” he said. “The fact that they didn’t have anything in writing is also troubling from just a governance perspective,” he added.

Knack said the city does not know what problem the province is trying to address and suggested there did not appear to be data behind the decision. “So it just feels like a really disorganized mess.” CTV News Edmonton sought more information from the province twice but received no response on either occasion.

Beginning in the new year, Edmonton will have 18 months to develop, consult on and secure council approval for a new zoning bylaw. Knack described the public consultation as a “sham” because council is being told how to vote. He said the directive puts him and other councillors in a difficult position.

“Either we violate the directive, at which point the minister has the ability to remove council, if they so choose to go to that extreme. But if we go into the public hearing and then we vote how they want us to vote, we’re potentially in violation of the requirement to have an open mind,” Knack said. In 2024, Alberta passed legislation allowing ministers to repeal or amend municipal bylaws, or to order a recall vote for elected municipal councillors.

Edmonton city council is scheduled to discuss the legality of the province’s request on Friday. Kalen Anderson, chief executive officer of Bild Edmonton Metro, said the development industry group’s members are also waiting to learn what will happen next.

“We are waiting for that written directive,” Anderson said. “What our membership, the builders and developers of Edmonton, would most appreciate is clarity on the precise intervention that would be required.” She said the city has told the industry that it is “business as usual” until council formally enacts new bylaws.

Anderson said builders and developers routinely adjust to changes in rules across the region. “There are land-use bylaw changes that happen all over the region all the time,” she said. “The uncertainty here is just what will change and at what pace.” The group wants the changes to be as targeted as possible, with a defined timeline so people can prepare.

“Our ask would be to make sure that’s it’s as surgical as possible, not broad brush, and that there’s a clear timeline associated with it so people can prepare.” CTV News Edmonton reporter Jeremy Thompson contributed to the source report.