LETTER: Proposed bylaws include changes not presented to Red Deerians
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If you are following Red Deer’s land use bylaw review, you know changes are being proposed for residential, industrial, and commercial land uses. Red Deerians have been told that the rest of the land use zones will be reviewed in the next year or two. However, the new Bylaws propose serious and consequential changes to uses on public service lands, a section of the bylaws outside the scope of this phase of bylaw review. These changes have not yet been transparently reviewed with the public at large.
These unreviewed changes will impact land and open spaces across the city. Many of our schools, playgrounds, and some open spaces are designated as public service (PS) land. If these Bylaws are passed, you could see a casino or six-storey independent living apartment complex going up in those spaces.
Public service land is land that has been set aside for public and quasi-public uses e.g. schools, hospitals, assisted living facilities, and public sports facilities. Without a formal and transparent public review of PS land uses, the new Bylaws make changes such as adding gambling establishments and independent living complexes to this zone.
If the Bylaws are passed, land set aside for recreation, health, and some of our most vulnerable residents will be open to development as casinos and expensive apartments with concierge services to deliver groceries and arrange visits by a hairdresser or masseuse. Don’t get us wrong. There is nothing wrong with independent-living apartment buildings with concierge services. If you can afford it, why not? However, should they be built on PS land or do they belong in the residential zones with other apartment complexes? It appears this question might be answered for Red Deerians without citizen input.
