VARSITY CIVIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

November 2024

Dale Hodges

Dale Hodges was the highly respected alderman/councillor for Ward 1 from 1983-2013.  He worked tirelessly along with many community volunteers for years to acquire and rehabilitate the former Klippert gravel pit into a natural park.  The eastern part of Bowmont Natural Environment Park was dedicated as Dale Hodges Park in 2022.

Sadly, Dale passed away on December 31, 2023.  In honour of Dale’s long service to Calgarians, the City of Calgary is installing entrance and interpretive signs in Dale Hodges Park.  For more information on this award-winning jewel go to https://www.calgary.ca/parks/dale-hodges-park-walking-tour.html.  Take the time to walk through the park – it’s beautiful at all times of the year.

The City is also dedicating the Dale Hodges Meeting Room in the historic City Hall building in November.  Dale and Yvonne were long-time residents of Bowness and moved to Varsity in 2021.

Vecova

The news of the pending closure of Vecova in 2025 has hit Varsity residents and the disabled community in Calgary extremely hard.  Vecova was not successful in obtaining funding from the federal government to upgrade the facility.  For more information see https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/opinion-skies-not-so-blue-in-calgary-for-disability-community.  You can also visit their website at https://vecova.ca/.

New Zoning Bylaw

The City is creating a new Zoning Bylaw which will replace Bylaw 1P2007.  The residential housing categories will be collapsed into 3 categories.  One of the initiatives is to eliminate parking requirements for all residential development.  It is called an Open Strategy which allows the builder to determine if they need any parking stalls and if so, how many.  It is also proposed to change a number of land uses from discretionary use to permitted use category.  Although the bylaw is still in draft form, we have a number of concerns with respect to residential and parks proposals.  For a complete description of the new zoning bylaw go to:  https://engage.calgary.ca/citybuilding/cbpphase4.

Restrictive Covenants

Restrictive Covenants are an agreement between neighbours that limit the type of development that can be built on their properties.  Email me if you would like me to send you information on this initiative.

South Shaganappi Local Area Plan

The Local Area Plan engagement process is now in Phase 4 and the new map of urban form categories and proposed heights is available at https://engage.calgary.ca/shaganappi/realize.  This will go to the Infrastructure and Planning Committee (IPC) in January 2025 and will be followed by a public hearing at Council.

For information regarding the Civic Affairs Committee, please contact JoAnne Atkins, Director of Civic Affairs, at joanneatkins@shaw.ca.