Calgary Minute: New App, RV Parking, and a Stampede Kickoff Party

Calgary Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Calgary politics

This Week In Calgary:

• There will be a Regular Meeting of City Council on Tuesday at 9:30 am. There is a lengthy Consent Agenda (the stuff they don’t debate), that includes renaming City Hall CTrain Station to City Hall/Bow Valley College Station. Also on the Consent Agenda is a recommendation that Administration investigate ways to mitigate increased amounts of vehicle noise in residential neighbourhoods and report back in Q3 of next year. A report notes that “communities across Calgary have reported for years that their quality of life is negatively impacted by noise emitted from vehicles in residential neighbourhoods and commercial districts”, and that 1,500 complaints have been logged about the issue. Later on in the meeting, a Notice of Motion will be brought forward tasking Administration to “draft a noise policy vision” and potentially undertake “a pilot project that engages Calgarians in soundscape assessment”, reporting back to Council in Q1 of 2024. 
  
  
• The Infrastructure and Planning Committee will meet on Wednesday at 9:30 am. The Committee will discuss Land Use Bylaw amendments to help local businesses by streamlining the Change of Use development permit process. The Calgary Planning Commission will meet on Thursday at 1:00 pm to discuss several land use amendments.
  
  
• Stampede season is fast approaching. Common Sense Calgary, in conjunction with our friends at the Alberta Institute, are hosting a pre-Stampede event. We'll meet at Edworthy Park on Wednesday, July 5th, from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Specifically, we will be at Picnic Site 7 & 8, which has plenty of room, BBQs, a fire pit, and is suitable for families, but also allows for the consumption of adult beverages! To keep the event free and as accessible as possible, it will be BYOHBB (Bring Your Own Hot-Dogs, Burgers, and Beer). Our team helped pay for the site rental, and will be providing water, snacks, and some marshmallows for roasting, so if you have the capacity to chip in, $10 is a suggested donation. Please RSVP here. Hope to see you there!

Last Week In Calgary:

• Speaking of Stampede, a new app has been launched that allows visitors to navigate the grounds, find locations of exciting food, and get performance schedules and information on other attractions. It’s hard to believe, but this is the first time the Calgary Stampede has made this information available through an app. It will likely be particularly helpful this year as the BMO Centre expansion has displaced some attractions from their familiar locations. The app is available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Stampede begins on Friday!
  
  
• By a vote of 9-1, the Community Development Committee approved bylaw amendments that would allow for $500 fines to property owners who allow foxtail barley to grow over 8 centimetres. The grass has barbed seeds that can be harmful to animals, getting lodged in their mouths or fur and causing expensive vet bills. Councillor Andre Chabot, the lone vote in opposition, pointed out that there are “extensive amounts of foxtails growing” on City property. Council still needs to approve the amendments at Tuesday’s meeting.
  
  
• The Community Development Committee also debated amending a bylaw that would have allowed Calgarians to park their RVs on residential driveways from May through October rather than the 36-hour time limit currently imposed. The amendments would also have allowed out-of-town RVs to park on city streets for 36 hours, but only with affected homeowners’ permission. Councillors expressed concern that such a proposal was misaligned with the new residential parking regulations. While the Committee ultimately chose to send the bylaw amendments back to City staff for further work, Councillor McLean wanted to kill the amendments at Committee, worrying that the resources to implement a whole host of complex regulations just aren’t available. McLean also expressed concern that people may rent out their parked RVs for living space or through Airbnb.

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