One of Edmonton’s oldest neighbourhoods is taking steps to preserve its historical character while meeting city density targets. 

The Garneau community league is proposing expanding the neighbourhood’s existing special character residential area, a designation which is aimed at preserving unique features through more restrictive zoning regulations. 

This comes after the city announced its plans for priority growth areas last May, where the Garneau area was identified as a major node. This means increasing density in the area is a top priority for the city.

Members of the community league aren’t opposed to the city’s density targets, but some worry the growth plans are not specific enough, said Steph Neufeld, the president of the Garneau community league.

“We’re the densest community in Edmonton. We can all agree on the city plan, increasing density in core neighborhoods,” she told CBC News Saturday. 

“But the thing that we’re doing here is just … really looking at how can we do that in a way that actually grows where we want to grow and preserves what we actually that’s actually working in our neighborhood.”

According to league projections, by placing more of Garneau under the special designation, the region’s maximum build-out potential would decrease from 593 people and jobs per hectare to 552 — a number the group noted is well above the city’s target of 250.

The league’s proposal would also require amending the Scona District Plan, a land use policy which guides city zoning decisions, to include the expanded character residential area.

But, as Neufeld noted, the only exceptions to these densifying zoning decisions are heritage properties and those within the existing special character residential area. 

Currently, special character residential areas under the district plan can be home to infill development as long as it maintains the area’s character and existing streetscape.

Neufeld said more needs to be done to specifically preserve the neighbourhood’s history, regardless of future development.

“The policy is too vague and not context specific enough to capture neighborhoods like Garneau or any neighborhoods that have unique features,” said Neufeld. “And that’s what [our proposal] does. It doesn’t replace the Scona Plan. … It’s in complete alignment.”

“It’s not just about density. Yes, we can get that density, but what about heritage? What about sense of place?”

The proposal would diversify the housing mix of the neighbourhood by restricting the construction of housing already readily available in the area, such as apartment-style buildings and lodging houses, said Neufeld.

Neal Fernuik, a Garneau resident, said he supports the community league’s proposal, noting that he hopes infill in the area can better fit the character of the region. 

“We’re seeing the infills coming in where there’s no architectural control,” he said. “I just felt that we needed to come out and support the plan that Garneau was putting together so that we control our own destiny as opposed to developers.”

Submitting a formal application to the city to consider the community league’s proposal is costly at $100,000, said Neufeld. Regardless, she said she wants to pursue this path, hopefully by getting the fee waived by city administration.

“When residents are engaged and feel empowered, you just build amazing communities within Edmonton,” she said.