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Edmonton city council has voted in favour of an administration proposal to create special zones allowing increased building heights in Rossdale.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ward O-day’min Coun. Anne Stevenson, whose ward includes Rossdale, put forward a rezoning motion to allow for medium and large scale development on a parcel of land located within Rossdale Road, 97th Avenue, 105th Street and 102nd Street.<\/p>\n
The parcel is next to the Rossdale Burial Site which is located at 101st Street and 96th Avenue. Itserves as a shared resting place for M\u00e9tis residents, First Nations peoples that include members of the Papaschase First Nation, and early European settlers.<\/p>\n
The motion passed 9 to 4 with Coun. Jo-Anne Wright, Karen Principe, Reed Clarke and Keren Tang voting against the motion.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The motion\u2019s approval means a building of up to 15 storeys on the northwest portion of the site is allowed, which is an increase from the previous limit of 12 storeys.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However the proposal to create special zones was met with opposition that saw nearly 20 speakers come to city hall to make their concerns heard by city council. <\/p>\n
Amber Paquette is Nehiyaw and M\u00e9tis, and served as the sixth Historian Laureate for the City of Edmonton. Her opposition was rooted in the area\u2019s historical significance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have something special here that deserves to be protected, and it’s a place where families gathered for over 600 generations, there’s babies buried down there,\u201d Paquette told CBC News.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy, great, great, great uncle was one-and-a-half years old when he was put to rest down there lovingly by his parents, and I would hate to know \u2026 there’s perhaps somebody walking over him because they don’t know where he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paquette, who is also vice-president of the Indigenous Heritage Circle, said she is part of a team working on a framework to bring the federal government to consider federal protections for Indigenous cultural heritage sites.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to just see an actual comprehensive historical land-use study of that area, and it has to be specifically Indigenous-led,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI do have concerns that certain stakeholders and people that are chosen to represent the city have different ideas, maybe preconceived ideas of what they’re going to find.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
WATCH | Residents speak out against Rossdale rezoning:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783392197_174_default.jpg\")
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Taking a stance against Rossdale rezoning<\/p>\n
City of Edmonton administration put forward a proposal to rezone a parcel of land in the Rossdale area. As the CBC’s Tristan Mottershead reports, a public hearing drew in a handful of residents voicing their opposition.<\/p>\n
Paperchase First Nation Chief Calvin Bruneau told council he supports the rezoning because ofpotential economic development benefits for the First Nation, but notes the city should move with caution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHave site monitoring archeologists on site, because you never know with Rossdale about human remains or artifacts.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Multiple members of the Edmonton Stragglers, another First Nation band who have significant ties to the parcel of land, spoke in opposition to the rezoning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur ancestors matter, their graves matter and descendants who carry their blood matter today,\u201d Gerald Delorme told council.\u00a0<\/p>\n