1900 Marda Loop | 23m | 6s | Sarina Homes

MichaelS said:
The 2014 plan actually ended the Marda Loop ARP at 19th Street. The infills further east were apprpriate for the plans at the time. Shows some of the challenges of constantly evolving policy.
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If I recall, there was/is ongoing tension about this within the community and lots of perceptions that the retail should be "clustered" on the west end.

The theory some have shared is that the goal was to concentrate retail activity and perceived impact away from the other more residential part of 33rd. This line of thinking and politicking led to a really myopic ARP that focused on only a few blocks of the business area - about half of which is not likely redevelopable in the near future as it's already been recently redeveloped. Lots of paperwork to detail a plan area like 4 city blocks. Meanwhile, the eastern stretch of 33rd was seen by some as an appropriate place for low-density residential in perpetuity and resisted any sort of forward thinking plan that growth would occur on the corridor.

This was a pretty wild set of assumptions - particularly that 33rd was supposed to be some sort of low-density residential conservation zone as it's always been the main throughfare, even back then. Together this line of thinking has failed to estimate the scale market demand and population growth in the area already, let alone what continues to come.

To be fair, in 2014 I wouldn't have thought retail would be viable for the whole stretch between Crowchild and 14th Street and probably been fine with some compromise. But with the growth that has occurred and continues to be proposed, I can't imagine why we would artificially create a retail boundary in the area at 19th Street or any street for that matter. The area is quickly converting from suburban to actually urban, retail and density can and should go anywhere here.
 
Board reports will be available October 27th, so we can see the reasons for the appeal then:
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Active Appeals / Public Reports

www.calgarysdab.ca www.calgarysdab.ca
 
I'm guessing the concerns are from people on the block. Shadows and alley concerns (parkade access, ventilation fans, etc.) for people on 32nd, and loss of backyard privacy for the infills to the east on 33rd.
 
My only issue with this development is that these buildings that take up such a huge parcel of land can get a little boring visually.

Something like South Bank in Inglewood where the facade changes as you walk along the building would be much better, IMO.
 
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