Council votes to greenlight 5 new communities on Calgary's outer edges

City council has approved proposals that will see new developments popping up on Calgary's outskirts for years to come.

Council voted 10 to 5 on Tuesday to approve up to eight new suburbs, five of which can proceed right away as they don't carry any new capital costs.

Three others are subject to financial implications which will become clearer when the budget is presented in November.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek voted against the proposals, arguing that there needs to be a better way of making decisions on new developments.

"We need to make administrative operating decisions that are based on criteria that are rooted in the main policy of the municipal development plan," she said.

"If administration feels that all the criteria are met for growth, then they should say these are our best recommendations and embed them within the budget which is where we would make an approval."

City administration says the new communities are needed to help accommodate an estimated 88,000 people who are expected to move to Calgary over the next four years.

Coun. Courtney Walcott, who voted against the new developments, says allowing more suburban development runs contrary to the city's climate strategy.

"And so while I do not agree with these cases, it is because I believe that climate is the greatest challenge in front of us and conversations about affordability need to be had before we continue to do things in the same way that we've done them in the past."

The five communities recommended included three in the far southeast corner of Calgary: Seton Ridge, Logan Landing and Nostalgia.

The two others are Lewiston, located on the city's far northwest, and Belvedere West, located on the city's eastern boundary near 17th Avenue S.E. 

The official go ahead for three additional communities given tentative approval by council will depend on information expected in the November budget.

Those communities are Rangeview Trafford and Glacier Ridge communities C and D.