The city is looking for community input on how to bring a bylaw that directs future development in the city out of the late 1980’s and into the 2020’s.
City of Lethbridge Administration has launched Phase Two of the Land Use Bylaw Renewal project focused on community engagement.
In 2021 the city put a new municipal development plan in place, which is said to have been the launching pad for the multi-year project to update the city’s LUB, which guides the overall direction of development that will happen in the city; the current LUB was put in place in 1986.
Project Manager Genesis Molesky compares the city’s LUB to its DNA as it controls the types of buildings in the city, the makeup of the building along with how it can be used.
“It greatly affects critical issues like housing affordability, economic development and sustainability. It’s a tool to standardize our decision-making processes and this project will determine what aspects of the use and development of land should be regulated and to what degree,” Molesky.
Project Manager and Community Planner Ross Kilgour adds with the update it will be easier to attract new investment to the city, creating new jobs.
“So there’s a lot of things like that that people may not have heard of the land use bylaw but it does have a big impact on your life,” Kilgour says. “We want to try and cut red tape and make it easier for development and businesses but in a way that our residents support and that’s getting them closer to the types of neighbourhoods they want to see in the future.”
The second phase of the project explores a vast variety of topics from residential, commercial and industrial uses to parking requirements. A total of six topics will be covered in the online survey which is open until February 18th. There will also be a pair of in-person engagement events that will be held between January and June, including the upcoming Community Conversation event. Feedback received from community engagement will be used in putting together the new bylaw draft that is expected to go before city council in 2026.
