Elboya Restrictive Covenant:
Click here to download
Signing meeting: NOVEMBER 10th, 5pm, Elboya Community Hall
Hello Neighbours,
Many neighbours have already added a restrictive covenant to their property to support the preservation of our neighbourhood as we know and love it.
*Regardless of whether the blanket rezoning is repealed at city hall, we feel this is a good long term way to preserve the neighbourhood as single family.*
The next “signing meeting” is NOVEMBER 10th at 5pm, at the ELBOYA COMMUNITY HALL where property owners who have committed to adding a new covenant and have sent their funds ($500) to our lawyers, Carbert Waite. Property owners will sign documents so that the lawyers can register the new covenant for them. This process will take about 15 minutes.
If you would like more information on restrictive covenants and why your neighbours are adding a new one to their properties, please review the entire page below.
PARAMETERS OF OUR COVENANT INCLUDE:
1) Single family dwelling
2) No subdivision of lots
3) Allowance for non-commercial suites in main dwelling or in garages, provided the garage is single story.
4) Front setback consistent with the streetscape in the neighbourhood
The entire covenant is posted on the webpage above.
To add a new Restrictive Covenant, please READ AND FOLLOW THESE STEPS CAREFULLY to ensure this goes smoothly.
1) Send an email to brendalucy54@gmail.com confirming you have sent $500 payment to Carbert Waite with the following information:
i. Legal names on title (Registered Owner(s)
ii. Street address (ie 4225 5th St SW)
iii. Plan #
iv. Block #
v. Lot #
**YOUR STREET LEGAL INFORMATION - is most easily found on your property tax bill.
On your property tax bill, your Plan, Block and Lot are in the Legal Description box, separated by semicolons.
2) Send money ($500.00) as follows:
a) Send to etransfer@carbertwaite.com
b) Use Carbertwaite as the password
c) Add these comments in the transfer: Name, Address, and File number: 124924.00
3) Confirm your attendance at the meeting. You do not have to be there for a long time. It takes about 15 minutes per property.
4) It is critical that if there are 2 people on title that you are both there. We will try to confirm a time slot for a few families at a time.
Final request: If anyone is interested in volunteering to help us make this happen for the neighbourhood, we would greatly appreciate it! Please email danalougheed@me.com.
Dana Lougheed
A notice about future development
…from your neighbours!
Dear Neighbours,
High density, R-CG style development applications have been submitted to the city for properties in Elboya! Please find information to prevent a new R-CG build from affecting your own property below. Neighbours need to work together.
An initiative has been started by a group of Elboya property owners who are very concerned about the City of Calgary’s new zoning guidelines and its implications for our community, including high density home builds.
Our goal is to preserve the single family nature of our neighbourhood that we all enjoy.
The Concern
The new zoning allows for a significant alteration to the calm quiet nature of our single family home neighbourhood, including:
Increased traffic, more parked cars along our streets, decreased sunlight due to 3 story, 8 unit buildings on a 50’ lot, altered setbacks, allowing homes to be built forward and back of your own home with a larger footprint than currently allowed.
Risk to current infrastructure further impacting city services to support our homes.
Marda Loop is an example of this kind of higher density development.
The Solution
A new, updated Elboya Restrictive Covenant.
What is a restrictive covenant?
A restrictive covenant (RC) is an agreement between landowners that limits the type of development on a property now and into the future. This is the best protection against higher density development in our neighbourhood. The Britannia Caveat is an example of a Restrictive Covenant that has successfully been used to enforce special development rules for many years
A new RC for Elboya is being proposed. When a large number of our properties have the same new covenant, this provides group protection against challenges in court, with group resources to defend it.
Why should I do this?
Most neighbourhoods around us have done this, including Britannia, Elbow Park, Rideau, Roxborough, Bel Aire, Chinook Park and Kelvin Grove. This now makes Elboya an easier target for developers; a “sitting duck” with relatively less protection.
A new covenant is a relatively inexpensive way to allow us, as a group of neighbours, to guide the future development of Elboya and protect our property value as single family lots.
But I already have a restrictive covenant on my property?
Legal discussions have suggested a new, modern covenant will have more legal “weight” for the following reasons:
If there has been an exception made to another property with an existing older covenant, it could make your RC (and your direct neighbours) indefensible, opening opportunity for a R-CG 8-plex beside you, for example.
Older covenants can generally be harder to defend as they were made at a totally different time. Toronto recently declared RC’s older than 40 years to be null and void, opening up opportunities for high density.
Some old covenants in Elboya have only a few properties registered on them. This makes it easier for a developer to have it removed in court. A new covenant with more properties provides group protection as more landowners would support it being upheld in court.
What will this cost?
The cost to do this will be $500 for each property to allow for a new covenant to be registered on your property and provide money for a legal fund to defend any challenges to the covenant in the future. There is power in many, as neighbours work together to protect each other.
The Britannia covenant has functioned effectively this way for decades and their community fund has supported any effort to have their covenant removed.
Next Steps
Every land owner is encouraged to get their own separate legal advice and make their own decision. This proposal is an option to help Elboya residents with a common goals support each other and protect the neighbourhood.
Send an email to elboyaneighbours@gmail.com WITH QUESTIONS OR TO SIGN UP AS INTERESTED IN REGISTERING A RESTRICTIVE COVENANT.
Check this page for updates.