Development Permits and the City of Edmonton

Tom Dean • August 12, 2020

Development Permits in the City of Edmonton

A few months ago, I helped a client get city permits on a particularly tricky deal. The business's use was "not contemplated by zoning," so we had some issues getting a development permit. It was so bad that at one point, we were told to resubmit our floor plans, and when I asked if that would be sufficient to get the used passed, the city agent told me "no, the use isn't allowed so we're going to deny it anyway." After six months of dialogue with the city, we managed to get her the permits she needed to operate her business.

Yesterday I was interviewed by the city as part of their permit and licensing improvement program because of the struggle we had on this file. It was a good conversation, but one thing I found disappointing was the feedback from small and medium-sized business owners was that their agents actively avoided participation in this process with the city.

Almost all of the agents I know in the commercial space are active in this process with their clients when needed, and I think this highlights why it's so important to have competent representation when dealing with commercial transactions.

In any event, my main feedback to the city was as follows:

· The licensing and permits process takes too long, when compared with the surrounding counties, we are simply not competitive in this area

· The process for new business owners is unclear and counter-intuitive

· Using 311 to get information on licensing is IMPOSSIBLE, if you don't have a contact at the city, you'll have a hard time getting information

· The permitting process is inconsistent, and your success in applying for a permit will depend on who you get at the city

· Some zonings are cumbersome and unnecessarily restrictive in many cases

Not all of my experiences have been bad, and the licensing and permitting team at the city does have a few rockstars in it, but about half of the time, it will be a nightmare.

Would love to hear about other people's experience with the city.

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