Calgary's secondary suite saga continues, focus turns to ageing in place

It just might be the suite that broke the camel's back.

City council debated rezoning one secondary suite for more than three hours on Oct. 6, leaving many since then to further question the process surrounding the issue.

Several residents from the northwest community of North Haven appeared before council to speak against an application to rezone property to include a secondary suite. Included in those speaking against was Sonya Staveley who lives between Nesbitt and Nolan roads, an area zoned RC-1, not allowing secondary suites. She said it's the process of filing for secondary suites that needs to change.

* Part three of three in Calgary's Growing Up series

Calgary's commercial sector riding high with innovative designs, added amenities

It's tough to keep tabs on Calgary's skyline these days.

With new buildings breaking ground every week in an area already adorned with construction cranes, it's no surprise the city's commercial sector ranks as one of Canada's most active.

With 791,344 square feet of office space leased through the first nine months of 2014, and another 3.8 million of square feet under construction, it's not simply the amount of leasing activity taking place in downtown Calgary, but the stature of those building yet to be constructed.

$45-million centre highlights town's continued growth

Big things are in store for Calgary's western neighbour.

The Town of Cochrane voted 6-1 in favour of a new $45-million aquatic and curling centre last week – the largest project ever approved in the growing community.

Financed by the town, Rocky View County, provincial/federal grants, developer fees and a fundraising campaign, the design plans for the new 130,000 square-foot facility call for a 25-metre lap pool, a wave pool, hot tub, "lazy river" and an outdoor splash park.

Rules to follow when using Mother Nature's cover for the winter

The word on mulching is out.

Mulching in the fall is not a minefield-free activity. In fact, it can be a whole lot of work for a whole lot of nothing if not done right.

Taking a step back, mulching is largely about the use of organic materials such as leaves or bark to cover ground over perennials, trees and shrubs.

Royal LePage Benchmark donates more than $13,000 to Children's Cottage Society

For the last five years, the crew at Royal LePage Benchmark have been fundraising for the Children's Cottage Society (CCS), including this year's offering of more than $13,000.

"[CCS] helps the world's most vulnerable population, the children," said Corinne Lyall, owner/broker for Royal LePage Benchmark and president-elect of CREB®. "Our agents really like the idea of supporting families and trying to keep them together and providing counselling in order to make the families a healthier group."

'Don't pay off someone else's mortgage'

Many of us remember our parents telling us it is better to own a home than rent one at some point in time – "don't pay off someone else's mortgage," they'd say.

They could not have been more correct.

So why are many people still choosing to rent when owning a property can be so financially rewarding?