A group of residents in the southwest communities of Richmond and Knob Hill are taking the City of Calgary to court over a council decision to change the zoning of the former Viscount Bennett school site to make way for a high-density development.
On April 8, city council voted 9-5 in favour of rezoning the former school site along Crowchild Trail between 26 Avenue and 33 Avenue S.W.
Now, a group called Neighbours for Richmond and Knob Hill hope to challenge that decision, seeking a judicial review.
“The basis is that council failed to comply with steps and procedures as outlined as part of the Municipal Government Act,” said Lucia Rossini-Lake, one of the members of Neighbours for Richmond and Knob Hill.
The group claims city council made its decision, following a public hearing, without recent traffic data or studies on area infrastructure.
“We know there’s going to be development, it just has to be reasonable,” said Storm Purdy, another member of the group. “If you’re going to plunk something down, you want to make sure that the pipes work and make sure that the traffic flows before you actually build anything.”
The proposed development’s impact on traffic has been a significant concern for those living in the area throughout the process.
Stephanie Howard, who has lived in Richmond since 1996, noted she often has to warn other drivers to slow down through the neighbourhood.
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“I think the traffic will increase exponentially, which is really unfortunate,” she told Global News. “I don’t think the streets have the capacity for that.”
Council’s approval of the rezoning for the site came with several conditions including infrastructure upgrades, improvements to three intersections in the area, and more than $1 million to build a new bus rapid transit stop along Crowchild Trail.
While taking questions after the decision in April, Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott said people’s habits “take time to shift.”
“People have to see the bus, they have to know that it’s accessible, they have to know that it’s safe and know the timelines,” he said at the time. “That stuff will come.”
Minto Communities purchased the property from the Calgary Board of Education in 2023.
The development proposal includes eight buildings, mostly between four and six storeys tall, as well as a trio of 16-storey towers along Crowchild Trail that could accommodate up to 1,509 units.
However, planning documents show the building heights were scaled back from a maximum of 30 storeys in the original proposal, and the amount of anticipated units dropped from 2,503 to just 1,231 units in the updated plan.
A development permit application for one of the buildings on the southeast corner of the site is currently under review, according to the City of Calgary’s development map
According to Purdy, residents would prefer if the development remained within the guidelines in the Local Area Plan of 400 units per hectare.
“The scaled back version is obviously a scaled back version, but it’s still too big,” Purdy said. “It’s not appropriate for this community.”
Both the City of Calgary and Minto Communities declined a request for comment from Global News as the matter is before the courts.
An initial court date to hear the residents’ application has been set for July 23.
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