Council approves Edmonton six-condo infill build after developer abandons plan for apartment

A developer is pivoting on an approved infill development in Crestwood after hearing from residents.

More than 30 speakers were at a public hearing Monday, where city council looked at 25 separate bylaws related to development including infill, firehall developments and the City Plan itself.

A proposed rezoning of an already approved apartment project took the majority of the day. Located at 142 Street and 95 Avenue, the land was approved for a 10-metre tall, 11-unit apartment complex with no parking. The developer, Franken Homes, asked to rezone the land to allow for a height of 12 metres to allow for the addition of two-car garages per unit and to use the building site for six condominiums.

Noting he already had a buyer lined up for the development as it was previously approved, Franken Homes co-owner Ulco Franken told council he proposed the new zoning after feedback from the community. He said he was looking at a “New York-style” brick and steel aesthetic for the updated development.

“I will take the onus on myself that I have not done a good enough job communicating,” said Franken, who added his phone number is posted at the job site and invited anyone in the neighbourhood to phone him directly.

He noted if the zoning had not changed, he would have proceeded with the development council already approved. Nakota Isga Coun. Reed Clarke suggested that was “holding the community’s feet to the fire.”

Administration told council they received 173 submissions on the project — 166 of those were against the development. Clarke said he received more than 300 emails in opposition to the project.

Joe Spelliscy, who owns a home in Crestwood, accused administration of advocating for developers.

“We’ve been here before where we get a lot of lip service and no action in the end,” he said. “The city itself has its own public engagement framework that was published in February 2025. It says public engagement is to be authentic and it is to be meaningful and I don’t know if we’re going to see that.

“We feel we’re under siege from the city continuously. People literally are anxious about everything. When you see a small bungalow for sale, you wonder which developer is going to put an eight-plex on it.”

He said the city could expand infill in the neighbourhood by splitting lots into “skinnies” to allow for duplexes and fourplexes to address infill needs.

Crestwood is 83.4 per cent single detached homes, 14.5 per cent apartment buildings and 0 per cent row housing. The neighbourhood’s population declined by 1,000, according to the 2021 census, dropping to 2,415 from 3,445 in 1971. Most of the population reduction occurred in the 1980s and has remained steady ever since. The population trends follow city-wide observations of people moving to the outer reaches of the city where there are newer, cheaper developments.

Developers are responsible for any upgrades to infrastructure needed by their construction.

Council voted 9-4 on third reading to change the zoning to RSM h12 (small-medium scale transition residential zone) from RS (small scale residential zone) with Mayor Andrew Knack along with councillors Clarke, Thu Parmar, and Karen Principe voting against.

Paul Stocco has lived in Parkview with his family for 25 years. He says he is “saddened and shocked” by the pace of infill development around his home.

“They just don’t fit within existing neighbourhoods,” he said during the public hearing. “It’s as if these developments are being grafted on to existing neighbourhoods with the hopes that the monstrosity that is being created will in fact survive. It reminds me of the Frankenstein novel, where a singularly obsessed person attempted to create what that person thought would be a more perfect creation, by grafting bits and pieces that are disparate, that don’t work together, that don’t belong together. The result is something like a kinto monster that nobody wanted, nobody expected and nobody could control.

“If anyone has passed along 95 Avenue, I think you would observe that 95 Avenue cannot handle the current traffic with current development. Adding more units and more height will only make the problem worse. There is a strong opposition to these types of developments,” he added, urging council to “put a halt to this horror show.”

Council will address the remaining zoning bylaws at the next public hearing, scheduled for Jan. 26.

ebowling@postmedia.com

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