City seeks feedback for land use bylaw
By Lethbridge Herald on June 11, 2025.
Al Beeber
Lethbridge Herald
The City of Lethbridge is seeking public feedback on proposed updates to its land use bylaw.
The bylaw was first created in 1987 and while the document has been tweaked over the decades, it is now undergoing its first major overhaul.
In the fall of 2022, city council committed nearly $1.2 million during the 2023-26 budget cycle for the renewal project.
The second phase of the work is focusing on several major items including secondary suites as well as parking at residences and commercial/industrial sites.
A survey at getinvolvedlethbridge.ca is now open and running until July 4 for residents to give feedback, senior community planner and project manager Genesis Molesky said Tuesday morning in the City Hall foyer.
The bylaw renewal project is aimed at improving the City regulates the development of private land in Lethbridge, ranging from the heights of buildings to where and what type of housing is built and where businesses can locate, said Molesky.
The community planner called this the most important stage of the project and this month the public will be able to give input on several proposed changes which could impact the way the City regulates secondary suites and other types of housing, commercial/industrial development and parking requirements.
Unlike other cities which have completely eliminated parking requirements for residential uses, the City of Lethbridge doesn’t find that suitable, Molesky noted.
In addition to the survey, residents will able to attend an open house this month on June 18 from 3-7 p.m. at the Galt Museum while the project team will be at the farmer’s markets and Park Place Mall to gather feedback. More than 1,400 people have provided feedback so far.
The team’s next step will be to share with council the feedback and depending on council recommendations and comments, about a year will be spent rewriting the LUB.
“At this point it’s all proposed changes and we want to hear what the community wishes to see before we begin writing a new land use bylaw,” said Molesky.
Residents have shared their concerns about parking, said Molesky, noting that housing affordability is an issue some struggle with.
“So the proposed changes attempt to balance the reduction of regulatory barriers while still addressing the concerns of the community. In this case, they really want to keep their parking so the proposed change is to reduce the parking requirement and maintain it in some cases for residential uses,” said Molesky.
For commercial and industrial uses, the planning team is proposing to move toward an open parking requirement where the City won’t require a minimum number of stalls; instead the corporation would allow business owners and developers to determine themselves how much parking their business or clients would need.
“So that is a shift from having the City regulate how much parking a business needs versus a business owner knowing how much parking they need to provide to be successful,” added Molesky.
Residents have expressed a range of opinions so far on secondary suites with some wanting to see changes to regulations which would make it easier for them to be built while others have concerns.
“The proposed changes for this round of engagement is to allow secondary suites as permitted uses” but the community has been asked their opinion on what type of regulations should be established. For example, Molesky said that could mean secondary suites only on corner lots or allowed everywhere.
The first phase of the bylaw project examined social uses and ran from August of 2023 through February of last year.
In the third phase to start this autumn, the project team will draft the bylaw and in the fourth phase, the new LUB will shared with the public for more feedback and revisions before going back to city council for a final decision which will made through a public hearing process.
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When was this survey started? First I heard about it and when I went to sign up it was closed. I’m assuming I missed the notice. July 04 was close date.
It is just another “pretend” thing from city hall. The community planning department tends to spin the so called results to meet their agenda. Waste or more waste of taxpayers money. But it gives some of the staff in the department something to do, I guess?
Nobody is going to waste their time! They do what they want to do and don’t listen to the public! Election year! Everybody reflect on the service we have been provided by our great Council! Then vote accordingly!
In the future, lawsuits!