Why Bill 205 Matters: road construction on your streets cries out the latest nonsense from the far-left Alberta Party. Whenever you see anybody use the phrase "better regulate" you should brandish a shotgun. When the Alberta Party uses it, you need to pack a couple of grenade launchers along just in case.
Here's the relevent bit, emphasis mine:
The full title of the Bill is the Municipal Government (Delayed Construction) Amendment Act, 2011, and its goal is to provide municipalities with the tools to better regulate construction within their boundaries. Bill 205 was created as a response to a number of stalled developments in the province – most notably the site at 4th Street and 21st Avenue SW in Calgary. The good people of the surrounding community have been living with this unsightly fenced-in hole-in-the-ground for nearly a decade now! Delayed developments hamper the vitality of communities, lessen their desirability for businesses and reduce the ability of residents to fully enjoy and experience their surrounds.
Bill 205 would allow municipalities to protect the economic and societal interests of communities existing near to such construction sites, and ensure projects are not significantly stalled, suspended or delayed for unreasonable lengths of time. In these cases, municipalities should have the authority to require the landowner to improve the appearance of the site within a specified timeframe.
Stomping on the rights of private businesses to meet some third party (okay, fifth party considering the source) expectations on what the property should look like. Forcing others to "protect societal interests of communities" by restricting the freedom of property owners? Now that's politics done differently!
