Demolition Day

For those of you who are interested in the construction process, this blog will have regular entries illustrating the building of a single family house that Inertia designed for Gary Campbell and Heidi Wagner. Currently, we have a Development Permit submitted and are awaiting the first review (DTR) from the City. To bring you up to speed, this post include photos (and a video) from demolition day on June 25, 2015.

Dwell on Design Los Angeles 2015

Inertia had the opportunity to go on the South Bay home tour at the recent Dwell on Design conference in Los Angeles. Only personal photography is permitted inside the private homes, so here are some shots that anyone could take from the street with their iPhone. Unlike last year's tour, we were impressed with the quality of design and finishing. To find out more about this tour and the selected houses, visit the Dwell on Design website.

Fostering Inner City Development

Within the past month, Richard White has published three blog entries on how Calgary’s City Council could foster development in established communities. 

Permitted Multifamily

http://everydaytourist.ca/blog/2015/1/20/enhancing-established-community-development-multifamily

In the first entry, White proposes making multifamily development in the inner city a permitted use rather than a discretionary use. This means that if a proposed development meets all the Land Use Bylaw rules, then it's allowed as proposed. We're not against this idea, but relaxations can be an important part of making a project better or even possible. In fact, most multifamily applications have at least one relaxation. If a single relaxation exposes a developer to potential appeal, then this idea wouldn't really improve things at all.

SDAB Reform

http://everydaytourist.ca/blog/2015/1/20/enhancing-established-community-development-sdab-reform

In White's second entry, he discusses the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board. This board is famous for being arbitrary and allowing specious arguments. In our own experience, the decisions that the Board makes are at best unpredictable. We can't expect that there will be any more weight placed on the larger needs of the City than on the irrelevant claims of an unaffected neighbour. This introduces a signifiant risk to developers considering an inner city project, and certainly makes suburban development look more attractive. Unfortunately, as Richard writes, the recent review has only resulted in minor changes that haven't had an affect on outcomes.

Remove Redundant Policy

http://everydaytourist.ca/blog/2015/1/20/enhancing-established-community-development-remove-bureaucracy

In his last entry on the subject, White suggests removing Area Redevelopment Plans from public policy. These plans were drafted to curb inner city development, and because of this, are out of sync with the City's progressive Municipal Development Plan. Case in point, the North Hill ARP begins with a nostalgic vision statement that includes: "There is a village atmosphere with young and old mingling in a way reminiscent of earlier, gentler times." The person who wrote that isn't going to stand for any change to his or her neighbourhood, especially if it might increase traffic (which is a code word for diversity). We project that the ARPs will stay on the books but will slowly fade out of relevance.

Thanks to Richard White for these three great entries and his excellent blog, The Everyday Tourist.

R-CG Pre-App Meeting

This morning we had our first pre-application meeting for a potential R-CG parcel. We were very impressed by how open the planners at the City are about this redesignation. As well, the community was excited about it as well.

Because R-CG is not considered a multi-residential district in Calgary's Land Use Bylaw, there are fewer hurdles to jump in order to get an R-C2 parcel redesignated as R-CG. If there is an existing policy, such as an Area Redevelopment Plan, that indicates that a parcel should remain a Low Density use, the R-CG district still conforms. As well, because of its conventional format where entrances are on the street and are not internal to the parcel, neighbours and community associations are less concerned about R-CG developments causing conflicts with adjacent low density development.

Based on the positive feedback from the community association, neighbours and today's pre-application meeting, we're going to move forward with the land use redesignation. We'll keep our followers informed as this development progresses! 

IMG_3491.JPG

Secondary Suite Silver Lining

We think that most Calgarians are disappointed by yesterday's news that Secondary Suites won't soon be permitted (or even discretionary) in Calgary's R-C1 districts (nor R-1, R-C1L districts). We won't belabour the situation by pointing out how unique our city is in disallowing this modest form of housing.

Rather, we want to remind homeowners, builders, and developers that accessory suites are currently possible in the R-C2 district and many others! In fact, in the ubiquitous R-C2 district, suites within a dwelling unit, such as basement suites, are permitted on all lots that are 29 1/2 feet (9m) or wider.

As well, backyard suites—such as suites above garages—are discretionary on lots that are 42 1/2 feet (13m) in width or wider, at at least 98 1/2 feet (30m) deep, and at least 4305 square feet (400 square metres) in area. Most of Calgary's inner city lots are 50 feet wide and easily accommodate a backyard suite. The fact that they are discretionary simply means that a development permit is required prior to applying for a building permit.

From Council Agenda December 15th, 2014 at agendaminutes.calgary.ca

From Council Agenda December 15th, 2014 at agendaminutes.calgary.ca

Currently, most of our clients are building accessory suites above triple garages. This size of garage easily accommodates two parking stalls for the main house, plus one for the suite. As well, triple garages provide a large enough footprint to allow for a good-sized two bedroom suite above the garage.

Even though yesterday's secondary suite news might be bad, it doesn't necessarily mean that you need to put off your suite plans. If you have an R-C2 lot, you're good to go. If you have questions, please feel free to give us a call.

Residential ePermit

Yesterday, we submitted our first Residential ePermit to the City of Calgary. As you know, since the 1980s, the architecture and design industry has been moving towards using computer software to generate construction documentation including architectural drawings. As well, since the 1990s, the Internet has allowed us to move files from computer to computer that are in different places. Yet, until last year, the City of Calgary only accepted permit applications on paper and in person. Applicants would have to print all of their digital files to paper, take that paper to the City, and then wait in a queue to submit them. This would usually take hours, and occasionally resulted in the application being turned away because of a single missing piece of paper.

Happily, the City's new Residential ePermit system now allows us to submit some permits online. Currently the City is accepting single and semi-detached building permits in the suburbs, and single-detached development permit applications in the inner city. Next month they are expecting to be able to accept semi-detached development permit applications.

Our first application went smoothly only taking about a half an hour to complete. There were some things that weren't clear, such as whether site photos should be uploaded as individual files, or be put together as a multi-page PDF. The uploads were a bit slow, but overall, it was a straightforward process.

We saved:

  • Printing about 50 sheets of 24"x26" paper, stapled and folded
  • The delivery of those prints
  • Driving to and from City Hall
  • Waiting for hours before being seen at the counter, and then waiting for the counter staff to review the application while we wait.

We found out today that our application was rejected because of some minor deficiencies (it turns out that all the site photos have to be uploaded as separate files), but we can now quickly complete the application directly from our office. As well, we don't have to prepare any replacement prints.

This is a very exciting initiative from the City—one that is genuinely reducing red tape—and we are pleased to be a participant. To find out more about the City's Residential ePermits, visit their website. (Sorry if that link doesn't work—the City tends to shuffle their URLs from time to time.)