Infill criticisms hurled at councillor during announcement

An Edmonton city councillor was publicly berated at a news conference on Friday by a resident unhappy with plans to put infill into mature neighbourhoods.

Andrew Knack was on Stony Plain Road to announce $15 million going to 18 neighbourhoods under the Great Neighbourhoods Program when he was approached by Ken Lakey.

• Proposed changes could increase density in mature neighbourhoods

Lakey has lived in West Jasper Place for 56 years and he has problems with the citys plans to allow duplexes, triplexes as well so-called skinny homes on subdivided 50-foot-lots.

The population is going to explode. The types of people that will most likely move into that are not really desirable, community-minded people, he said.

Lakey also took issue with Knacks statement that the Stony Plain revitalization plan came together with community involvement.

It did not involve community involvement, it involved administration and developers, and the council that we elected recently just stood by there and nodded heads.

But Knack said that density needs to increase in mature neighbourhoods especially if seniors want to keep living in the area.

The status quo isn't working anymore, he said.

If you want to age in place in a mature community in Ward 1, you only have a choice in most cases of a single family house or a walk-up apartment built in the 1970's without an elevator.

The zoning changes being contemplated by the city will return to council early next year.