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History of Planning Alberta (1905-1945 (1928-1940, Depression and drought…
History of Planning
Alberta
1870-1900
Northwest Territorial Government
In the beginning
Hudson's Bay Co
acted governmentally over "Rupert's Land"
under 1670 Charter
surrendered power by:
Rupert's Land Act
, 1868
Manitoba Act, 1870
Federal Order in Council, 1870
And so, in 1870:
British Crown took over
transferred Rupert's Land and NWT to Dominion of Canada
Manitoba created
power vested in Dominion Secretary of State and Minister of Interior
by 1875
NWT Act
established
territorial Lt Gov
appointed Council
Council could make laws re
territorial administration,
civil justice,
education,
municipal government
local works
property and civil rights
#
But
final approval and veto
lay in Ottowa
Only by 1885
were elected members added to Council
Municipalities
Urban
In 1883,
towns
Council passed
Municipal Ordinance
empowered Lt Gov to create municipalities and their powers
Regina became first town
in 1884, town of Calgary
-1892, town of Edmonton
By 1893,
cities
greater powers to Council set out in special charter
some cities didn't use a charter
Calgary by 1893
Edmonton by 1904
By 1893,
villages
Unincorporated Towns Ordinance
for areas <320 acres and >10 dwellings
governed by overseer elected /2 yrs
replaced with
Village Ordinance
limited powers:
tax assessment rates, constructing public works, running animals at large
#
Rural
none formed until Confederation;
too sparse
BUT
1 more item...
Local works
growing concern of lack of roadways
in 1887,
Statute Labour Ordinance
labour districts <144sq miles and >50 ppl
road building, filling sloughs, etc.
residents performed labour in proportion to land holdings OR
$.150/DAY
only one of these formed, in saskatchewan
1890,
Statute Labour and Fire Ordinance
size of 1 township
by 1896, 36 formed, mostly around Cal & Ed
agriculture,
high grain & livestock prices,
lower transportation costs
population boom
new and larger improvement districts
1 more item...
dissatisfaction of smaller
improvement districts
1903,
Local Improvement District Ordinance
self-governing conglomerations of 3-6 townships
headed by locally elected councillors
could levy property taxes based on acreage within a range
72 districts by 1904
127 districts by 1910
1905-1945
1905, AB entered Confederation
but local gov Ordinances remained due to s16 of
Alberta Act
Provincial legislature
1907
Villlage Act
and
Local Improvement Act
-
Replaced
Village Ordinance
overseer
replaced with elected council
Local Improvements District Ordinance
closer inspection of improvement districts by
Department of Public Works
massive westward flow of immigrants to AB
many more improvement districts
too many for Dept of Public Works
to handle alone
1911
Department of Municipal Affairs Act
help administer local govs
Rural areas fell
into 3 categories
unorganized local improvement districts
organized local improvement districts
incorporated rural municipalities
only 55 incorporated in 1912, b/c fear of increased taxes
so, in 1913,
Rural Municipality Act
amended to provide election of councillors by district
voting of rate-payers on borrowing bylaws
-unorganized rural districts could only form rural municipalities
1 more item...
better taxing power; easier to pass bylaws;
councillors elected from pop at large
1912
Rural Municipality Act
rural gov units with full corporate
status and powers
1928-1940, Depression and drought
many municipal districts folded
by 1940, 143 remained
by 1941, complete reorg
by 1944, only 60
similar consolidation of school districts
1928
Town Planning and
Preservation of Natural Beauty Act
#
3 purposes
created a town and rural planning advisory board
help make town planning schemes,
render advice to minister of public works re subdivisions
assist rural municipal authorities topreserve natural beauty
promote community pride
collect info re town planning schemes
confer authority
to Board
to lt gov
to minister of public works
to make an enforce regs re signs, automobile garages, filling stations, restaurants and tourist camps
near designated highways
acquire land by purcahse or expropriateion to
"preserve places of
natural beauty or historic interest"
up to $20,000
1929 Town Planning Act
superceded
1913 and 1928 versions
Planning Advisory Board
given new powers
zoning appeals
subdivision approvals
re Plans and schemes
approval of Minister of Municipal Affairs
still needed to adopt a plan by municipality
kept the vague provisions re compensation from injurious affections caused by official town plan
"regional planning commission"
made possible
public participation in process of adopting official town plan
newspaper ad
entitlement to submit written objections that council must "hear and determine"
zoning provisions
very similar to modern
zoning enabling legislation
municipal council empowered to adopt a zoning bylaw
uses permitted or prohibited in each zone
bylaw could prescribe development standards re building size, minimum yard space, design, character, appearance of buildings
Council had to advertise public hearings for bylaws
prospective only
existing developments got grandfathered
two month development freeze allowed, to defer decisions
subdivision
sale, mortgage or lease for >5 yrs for <1 acre prohibited
land <2 miles from urban bounds
sale, mortgage or lease for >5 yrs for <11 acres prohibited
outside towns/cities, no multi-res on a parcel (except for agriculture)
unless properly subdivided
cannot subdivide into <10 lots w/out Board approval
re existing subdivisions
with consent of 60% of assessed value of affected land (excluding improvements)
resubdivision could be ordered
titles issued to former owners
non-consenting owners could apply for compensation from Public Utilities Commissioners
1 more item...
Amendments
of 1948
"Zoning caveats"
like a legislated restrictive covenant
places without zoning could
impose caveats on land titles
building permit system
now illegal to engage in dev w/out a valid permit
compel subdivision
of multi-res parcels
of 1950
more resources needed to properly plan
Changes:
name changed to
Town and Rural Planning Act
"official town plan" became "General plan"
"technical planning board" composed of experts to prepare general plans, dev schemes and zoning and other planning bylaws
"interim development control" could pause any existing zoning bylaw ; council could have ad hoc control over dec
this is a lot of discretion: for this reason, appeals from local decisions arising out of development permit applications were made available to the Provincial Planning Advisory Board
district planning commission
- central clearing house for technical planning
a lot of dev occuring in
fringe areas
-urban poor buying cheap land
affluent residents buying acreages w room for horses
industries bought for low taxes and no building restrictions
problematic b/c
tension b/t urban and rural
urbanites demanding higher standards of schools, roads, etc. than rural govs could produce
agricultural land seen as "wasted" on urban developments
leap-frog development bad for
orderly expansion of city dev
long-term planning wasn't happening
population boom 1904-1913
interventionist, but minimalist, attitude
towards private land use
unrestrained development
and land speculation
early municipal bylaws in Ed and Cal
despite this, problems:
urban sprawl
unmeshed roads,
obtrusive industrial and commercial dev
subdivided raw land sold to unsuspecting foreign buyers
supply of these lots outstripped needs
excessive speculation forced up prices
working class had terrible living conditions
1911 city planning commission formed in Calgary
1913, professional planner hired
1912 bylaws had heavy emphasis on construction standards
1913
Town Planning Act
#
BUT
War and recession in 1914
made development and planning
a low priority until 1925.
1946-1970
tax authority had no control over how much tax it collected
taxes for residents within same district differed depending on school and hospital district
1950,
County Act
County council, divided into municipal, school and hospital commitees;
gained powers of Municipal Districts Act, School Act and Hospitals Act
established Coterminous Boundaries Commission to ensure boundaries corresponded w school districts
by 1988, 30 counties; 21 municipal districts; 15 improvement districts
no uniformity among cities
(each city governed by individual charter)
1951
City Act
repealed charters
all incorporated Alberta Cities gained same powers and duties
some exceptions for Cal & Ed
1947, discovery of oil
overnight boom in populations
needed schools, parks, water and swer
1956, New Towns Act
establishing interim local gov pending declaration as villages, towns or cities
more funding from province
more supervision also
eg. Cynthia, Drayton Valley, Hinton, Lodgepole, St. Albert, Fort Mac, Fox Creek, Grand Cache
all have since become towns or cities
no new towns since 1967
too much legislation!
1968, repealed:
Municipal Districts Act
Towns and Villages Act
City Act
replaced with
Municipal Government Act