Article content

Property owners who refuse to allow the city to increase density on their lots could face higher taxes under a new plan pitched by Coun. Michael Oshry.

In at least three areas of the city, residents have organized to sign restrictive covenants, a legal tool that forever prevents their lots from being split to allow for higher density.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Oshry pushes higher tax bracket for anti-subdivision crowd Back to video

But Oshry said that puts a higher burden on other residents, who either have to accommodate the density in their neighbourhoods or fund a city that’s sprawling unsustainably outward.

“Somebody sterilizes their property by having a restrictive covenant on it,” he said. “We should be able to charge them a higher tax rate. … It’s a question of fairness.”

Oshry submitted a formal inquiry at a recent council meeting, asking city staff to analyze how to create a residential property tax subclass for this under the Municipal Government Act.

The report is coming back this fall, after the election, to allow staff to determine if it would also be possible to use this approach for commercial properties. By then, new provincial regulations should make it clear if changes to the act would allow Edmonton to penalize companies like Sobeys, that now hold caveats preventing grocery stores from opening on some former Safeway sites.