Whoops. I think you might have accidentally said the quiet part out loud there, my guy.

  • Michael Janz

    So, your position is renters should be on the arterial roads. Is that correct?

  • Infill opponent

    I am more towards that, correct.

City Council is currently hearing from the public about possible changes to the zoning bylaw. Specifically, one change on the table is reducing the number of units permitted on a mid-block lot from eight to six.

The six number was proposed as a political compromise, an olive branch to people who feel their neighbourhoods are changing too fast, too quickly.

But it's never been about the change. It's always about who the change brings.

  • Michael Janz

    Forcing, you know, apartment buildings along main roads leads to more noise, more disruption, lower quality of life, asthma and pollution, and all kinds of other consequences from living close to traffic. Being even one block in from a major road can be so much more positive if you're allowing more heartbeats to be a little further away from cars.

  • Infill opponent

    I'm sorry, I don't agree with you there. What about our rights as homeowners in these neighbourhoods?

Next slide

It might be easy to dismiss these infill opponents as classist, but you'd be forgetting one thing: they have divine law on their side.

Presenting to council's Urban Planning Committee
  • Nita Jalkanen

    Six units are not the answer.

  • Next slide.

  • Nita Jalkanen

    Six units violated my rights. Concentrations of rental properties create slums and lower existing home values. Where is the oversight on rental densification within my neighbourhood?

  • Next slide.

  • Nita Jalkanen

    Thanks to science, sunlight is quantifiable. Each hour of sunlight adds to a dwelling's value. Taking our sun devalues our properties in hard currency.

  • Next slide.

  • Nita Jalkanen

    With, say, 300 infill permits issued last year alone, $10 million worth of property damage was done to Edmonton homeowners.

  • Next slide.

  • Nita Jalkanen

    Divine law underpins our society and legal system. Do unto others and love your neighbour. The arguments of affordability have been debunked. Affordable housing is being demolished for rentals. We are currently creating a generation of renters.

But sure, we're supposed to believe this is about "responsible" infill, and the only problem is the pace. A deep-seated contempt for anyone who doesn't own property, fully resolved by knocking eight units down to six. Sure.

Too much change, too quickly.

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