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“Infill is changing the way our cities look: how dense they are, the liveability of it. There are reasons for it — everything from climate, to transit, getting the most out of infrastructure,” says McAdam. “And then there are people who need to be next door to the construction. And there are people doing the construction — who are also our neighbours and friends — and the construction comes with challenges, and creates mess, and noise and things like that. That’s the bigger picture.”
And infill comes with potentially unique logistical challenges that can present genuine concern in a community. Some established neighbouring trees,
for example, really are damaged by construction and can cause damage to homes if they fall. Taking down an old structure, digging a basement and pouring concrete are challenging and potentially destructive. There’s often asbestos to deal with when demolishing an older home. It’s rare, but there have even been cases of owners and constructors without permits.
The City enforces bylaws and the regulations under the Safety Code Act. And there are rules for how buildings should be designed to support mature neighbourhoods, along with details on where different sizes and forms of
new housing should go. Owners and constructors are responsible for not damaging adjacent properties, but even with all the proper precautions, things can go sideways — both with construction projects and neighbour relations, McAdam says.
The City implemented a new zoning bylaw in January (Calgary passed a similar bylaw in May) that removed restrictive zoning to open up most residential lots
to varied building types, including higher density homes. Depending on the zone, structures could be row housing, apart- ments, duplexes, skinny homes built on split lots or garden suites, for example. Our metro area is at over one million and is expected to reach two million in the coming decades. So, the goal is to have
half these new million live in already developed areas.
Infill is here to stay. It’s a reality from an environmental perspective and an economic perspective — using existing infrastructure costs far less than building all new roads, hospitals and schools.
McAdam feels confident the issues are being ironed out. At the time of writing, the City is drafting a resource guide for builders to follow on how to build safely and responsibly. “When owners and constructors have complete information on how to do things safely they usually follow it,” he says. “When they don’t, the City holds them accountable, but we’re committed to minimizing those instances to begin with.
“It’ll be a valuable resource for people who are hiring people to do these things because you’ll have a guide essentially to say [to a builder]: you’re following this, right? And you can make them show you: I want to see your plan to see how you will do this safely and responsibly.”
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