Utilities everywhere require regular maintenance and upgrading. Sometimes utilities were overbuilt and infill is important to bring population back before other problems emerge. Before any development proceeds, administration examines and takes into account all of the needs and pressures in an area. Numerous utility and waste studies have been performed by EPCOR and City administration. Learn more at: https://www.edmonton.ca/public-files/assets/document?path=FINAL_Drainage_Resource.pdf
EPCOR drainage was involved with the Zoning Bylaw Renewal and associated updates to the drainage design standards. Through that exercise, there were minimal concerns with allowing up to 8 dwellings in a RSF lot.
Low flush toilets and efficient appliances have reduced the demands for infrastructure. Fire capacity was overbuilt and these are being reviewed and right-sized.
One of the bigger problems emerging is that low density development doesn't have the population or the tax base to generate enough taxes to pay for the replacement of the aging infrastructure.
Recent research from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives suggests opponents of building more homes, and especially denser, lower-cost options like apartments, often wield the argument that their communities lack the infrastructure—from sewers to schools, power lines to hospitals—to service so many new residents.
And while it’s true that decades of infrastructure underinvestment have left a backlog of needed upgrades and additions to support the region’s growing population, that shouldn’t be a reason to block new homes that can help address the housing shortage and resulting high home prices and rents.
In fact, denser housing options like apartments cost far less per capita and per unit to support infrastructurally. But cities and towns that ban them can pass the infrastructure buck to the places where new homes are permitted—often in exurban sprawl where municipal coffers are smaller and infrastructure costs higher.
A collective approach across city limits, along with new local, regional, and federal funding programs, would help cities embrace the apartments they should legalize anyway while ensuring a strong infrastructure to support the entire urban fabric. (Read More: https://www.sightline.org/2025/01/15/worried-about-infrastructure-costs-then-end-the-apartment-ban/