Changes to Calgary's Land Use Bylaw

Effective June 1st, Calgary's 28 year old land use bylaw 2P80 will be replaced with bylaw 1P2007. Here is a summary of the changes.

In single detached dwelling districts, will require a redesignation to add the ‘s’ modifier and add secondary suite as a discretionary use.

• Modifier districts include R-1s, RC1s and R-C1Ls districts.
• A listed discretionary use in the R-2 and R-C2 districts.
• Will not legalize existing illegal suites. A secondary suite requires an off-street parking stall, separate direct access from grade and an outdoor private amenity space of at least 7.5 square metres.
• A secondary suite is limited to a maximum of 70 square metres in area (must be small).
• A parcel width of 15.0 metres is required for a secondary suite in the R-2, R-C2 and R-C1s districts.
• A parcel width between 11.0 and 13.0 metres, depending on the form, is required for a secondary suite in the R-1s district.

Developed Area Districts

• R-C1L (R-C1Ls) (RR-1)
– 24 metre wide parcels.
– Secondary Suites accommodated through redesignation to R-C1Ls.
• R-C1 (R-C1s) (R-1)
– 12 metre wide parcels.
– Secondary Suites accommodated through redesignation to R-C1s.

• R-C1N (RS-1 & R-1A)
– Min 7.5 metre wide parcels.
– Max 11.0 metre wide parcels; 14.0 metres for corner parcels.
• R-C2 (R-2 & RS-2)
– Allows semi-detached dwellings to be developed on a 13 metre wide parcel.
– Min 7.5 metre wide parcels for single detached dwellings.
– Secondary suites are a discretionary use on a 15 metre wide parcel.

Developing Area Districts

• R-1(R-1s) district (R-1)
– 11 metre maximum building height can be increased to 12 metres when the parcel is 15 metres or wider.
– Secondary Suites accommodated through redesignation to R-1s.
• R-1N district (RS-1 & R-1A)
– Narrow parcel single detached district (7.5 metres minimum).
– Min 7.5 metre wide parcels.
– Max 11.6 metre wide parcels; 14.0 metre for corner parcels.
– 11 metre maximum building height when parcel width is 10 metres or greater.

• R-2 district (R-2 & R-2A)
– Allows semi-detached dwellings on a 13 metre wide parcel.
– Secondary suites are a discretionary use on an 11 or 13 metre wide parcel, depending on form.
– Min 7.5 metre wide parcels for single detached dwellings.
• R-2M district (R-2A)
– Semi-detached dwellings, duplexes and rowhouses are permitted uses.
– Rowhouses can occur on 5 metre wide parcels as a permitted use.

Citywide Districts

• R-MH (R-MH)
– Manufactured Homes on individual parcels or in a
Manufactured Home park.

• R-CH
– Small single detached dwellings, semi-detached or triplexes, called ‘cottage buildings’, developed in a ‘cluster’ on a minimum 22 metre wide laned parcel.
– Opportunity for more affordable housing.
– Opportunity for higher density ground oriented detached development.
– Provides market alternatives to multi-residential development.

Developed Area Multi-Residential Districts

• M-CG (R-2A, RM-1, RM-2 & RM-3)

– 12 metre max. building height, density modifier up to a maximum of 111 uph.
– Contextual, grade-oriented district.

• M-C1 (RM-4)

– 14 metre max. building height, density modifier up to a maximum of 148 uph.
– Contextual, low profile district.

• M-C2 (RM-5)
– 16 metre max. building height, maximum FAR of 2.5.
– Contextual medium profile district.
– Maximum uph set by modifier.

Developing Area
Multi-Residential districts

• M-G (RM-1)

– 12 metre building height; minimum 35 uph to a maximum of 80 uph, set by modifier.
– At grade housing district.

• M-1 (RM-4)
– 14 metre building height; minimum 50 uph to a maximum of 148 uph, set by modifier.
– Low profile district.

• M-2 (RM-5)
– 16 metre building height; maximum FAR of 3.0.
– Minimum 60 uph.
– Medium profile district.

Citywide Multi-Residential Districts

• M-H1 / M-H2 / M-H3 (RM-6 & RM-7)
– High density, low/medium/high rise districts.
– Maximum building height ranges from 26 metres to a limit set by modifier.
– FAR ranges from 4.0 to 11.0.
– Allows commercial uses, with limits.

• M-X1 / M-X2 (all new districts)
– Low and medium profile with support commercial.
– Allow commercial uses at grade; maximum 10% of building.
– M-X1, 50 – 148 uph, M-X2, minimum 60 uph and maximum 3.0 FAR

Neighbourhood Commercial Districts

• Require small scale development on small parcels
• Generally located in a low density residential context
• C-N1 (C-1 & C-1A) requires a storefront building
• C-N2 (C-1 & C-1A) provides for limited automotive uses
• Both provide for opportunities for residential development on upper floors
• Use areas limited to 300 square metres, except for convenience food stores - allowed 465 square metres
• 1.2 hectare site maximum

Community Commercial Districts

• C-C1 (C-1A, C-2 & C-3)

– Mid-scale commercial developments
– Located within a community or along a commercial street, maximum 3.2 hectares.
– 1,400 m2 use area maximum for retail

• C-C2 (C-1A, C-2 & C-3)

– Mid sized to large commercial developments on the boundary of several communities
– Comprehensively designed a buildings located on mid sized parcels, maximum 12 hectares
– 6,000 m2 use area maximum for retail

Regional Commercial Districts

• C-R1 Stand alone ‘big box’ development (C-3, I-2)
• C-R2 Regional enclosed malls on large parcels (C-5)
• C-R3 Comprehensively planned ‘power centres’ (C-5)
• C-O Office development (C-3)

Commercial districts

C-COR 1 Storefronts with buildings required to be close to the pedestrian sidewalk and containing small commercial uses (C-1, C-2, C-1A & C-3)
C-COR 2 Limited automotive uses, mid-scale uses (C-1,C-1A, C-2 & C-3)
C-COR 3 On major roads with automobile access, large retail uses (C-3, C-6 & I-2)

Transition to new districts

• All parcels in the City of Calgary have been transitioned to a new land use district.
• Some direct control bylaws have been retained.
• Principle of transition: Every parcel has been transitioned to the closest matching district, with some limited exceptions.

April Stats

Calgary, May 1, 2008 – Calgary’s MLS® listings are taking twice as long to sell over last year, according to fi gures released by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®). Calgary’s MLS® listings remain elevated for April indicating two things: Calgary is in a buyer’s market, and secondly, sellers need to pay attention and price their homes appropriately for today’s market and ensure that their homes are well staged and well kept in order to encourage buyers.

Single family Calgary metro new listings added for the month of April totaled 3,377, an increase of 8.9 per cent from April 2007 when new listing added totaled 3,100 and a decrease of 3.3 per cent from last month, when new listings coming to the market were 3,493.

Calgary metro condominium new listings added in April 2008 were 1,493, showing an increase of 29 per cent from the 1,157 new condominium listings added in April 2007 and a decrease of 4.4 per cent from last month’s condominium listings of 1,561. Single family Calgary metro sales for the month of April came in at 1,363, showing a decrease of 34.7 per cent from the 2,086 sales in April 2007 and showing a decrease of 3.9 per cent from last month’s sales of 1,418.

Condominium sales for the month of April were 581, a decrease of 30.8 per cent from the 839 condominium sales recorded in April 2007 and showing a slight increase of 2.8 percent over the 565 condominiums changing hands in March 2008. “Given the hectic pace of the resale market in the last few years, many buyers are breathing a sigh of relief. There are more listings on the market, which means more choice for the buyers, with more inventory, buyers are taking their time to fi nd the home that is right for them at the price that is right for them.

What that means however, for a seller; you now need to pay more attention to how you price your home. The market is no longer bearing the prices that it did a year ago. A professional REALTOR® who understands what is REALTORS® are educated, licensed professionals trained to guide you through the real estate transaction. SELLERS NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE CURRENT MARKET No MLS® information can be reprinted without sourcing the Calgary Real Estate Board. The Monthly Trend Absorbtion Rate REALTOR® SOLD PROPERTIES APRIL 2008

Total MLS® Sale Information going on in the market can help the seller with all of these issues in order to more effectively sell a home”, said Calgary Real Estate Board President, Ed Jensen. The median price of a single family Calgary metro home in April 2008 was $420,000 showing a decrease of 2.8 percent over April 2007, when the median price was $432,000 and showing no change from last month when the median price was also $420,000.

All Calgary Metro MLS® statistics include properties listed and sold only within Calgary’s City limits. The median price is the price that is midway between the least expensive and most expensive home sold in an area during a given period of time. During that time, half the buyers bought homes that cost more than the median price and half bought homes for less than the median price.

The average price of a single family Calgary metro home in April 2008 was $474,564, showing almost no change from last year, up just 0.1 per cent from April 2007, when the average price was $474,250. The average price of a Calgary metro condominium was $312,586, showing a 5.1 per cent decrease from April 2007 when the average price was $329,429.

Average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods or account for price differentials between geographical areas. The Calgary Real Estate Board is a professional body of 5,651 licensed brokers and registered associates, representing 256 Member offices.