Ian Nash, Project Coordinator of Hawthorne Homes believes in having a pre-application meeting with the City’s file manager to smooth the process. “A pre-application meeting sets a cordial tone – showing the willingness to work on behalf of the City. You sit down with the file manager, bring in the concept and general idea, and see what issues the City may have with the development. It’s a ‘get to know you’ stage.”

Typically, the builder would have the zoning in place before applying for the development permit. A land-use amendment happens before the development permit process begins. It’s at the land-use stage where the City ponders the traffic concerns for the area.

For new communities, there are assumptions the site will be built to a certain density. When the development permit comes in, as long as it doesn’t go over that density, the City has already adjusted its transportation level.
“We have to do sound studies and things of that nature,” adds Nash, “where you’re looking the impact of sound from traffic on the development, which can affect our sound wall height or the setback of our building. The development permit basically approves your project and allows you to go ahead, but before you construct any building, you also need a building permit.”

Next, there is an assortment of permit inspections for development completion, occupancy, and construction completion. Plumbing, electrical, heating, and gas inspections are also needed.

Dwayne Drobot, Planner for Development and Business License, Development and Building Approvals says the City does an in-depth review of the application and circulates it to various departments for feedback: engineering, transportation, planning/policy, ward alderman, building regulations, and community associations.

“We’ll give the builder the first set of comments within about 35 days,” says Drobot. “If we call for changes, timeline for approval depends on how quickly the applicant gets them back to us and whether they require further comment or not.

“Once we get to the approval, we have to advertise all the approved development permits in the paper under the Municipal Government Act. That’s so if somebody objects to the project, they can appeal the decision.

“Before we can release the approval, there may be a couple of other changes that we require – fees that need to be paid or upgrades that might be needed. Timelines depend on the complexity of the application. We can identify a lot of the issues at the pre-application stage. We also encourage the applicant to meet with the community association prior to application, so they know what the community concerns are before they start.”

The development permit process looks at things like landscaping, zoning, density, what the building is for, planning, parking, and how it fits into the context of the neighborhood. The building permit process is about how it’s built: construction details, materials used, and if it meets the Alberta Building Code.

Drobot acknowledges, “Ultimately, we’d like to see the development go through. We have certain goals we need to meet for the City. If the development doesn’t meet those goals, we’ll ask the applicant, please change your plans to reflect this or to reflect this policy, rather than outright refuse them.”

There is room for minor variances through the development permit process. If the builder requires a nine-meter height, and they go over by a couple of centimeters on one side, the City will look at the impact and the context of how it fits into the neighborhood to see if it is appropriate.

“It’s based on fit. Fit for the community, fit for the City, and fit for the site. We’ll use the architecture to try and achieve other goals. It could be introducing other materials to create a better pedestrian edge along the development, to orient the units in such a way that they front onto a park, or maybe the policy calls for each unit to have an individually defined entry.”

The City looks at density in certain communities, particularly near existing and future LRT corridors. Where possible, they like to provide a good housing mix so a resident can live his or her entire life in the community, from infancy to retirement, if they so choose. The City encourages commercial activity, good transit, and good pedestrian connections to make each of these multi-family neighborhoods accessible and convenient.