There's a big public hearing on blanket rezoning happening at Calgary city hall this week.

I am pretty sure I've typed that exact sentence, or something very close to it, numerous times in recent years.

But here we go again!

Mayor Jeromy Farkas calls it "housekeeping" after council's April decision to repeal blanket rezoning. That decision reverts most of the city back to the low-density residential districts that were originally in place before Jyoti Gondek's council approved blanket rezoning in 2024.

But properties where development was already approved before January 1, 2026, were exempted from the repeal.

Part of what's at issue this week is what to do with 247 properties that qualified for the exemption between January 1 and the April 8 repeal decision. Council needs to decide if they will also be exempt or not. (The blanket rezoning repeal goes into effect August 4, by which time council is on summer break.)

“The question becomes, What do you do to be fair to those folks who have already started their construction, despite the fact that we're going back to the old rules?” said Farkas.

Council is also to decide whether or not to loosen the density of R-CG zoning from 75 units per hectare to 60.

There's more to get into. There always is. We'll keep an eye on this latest chapter of the years-long rezoning saga as it continues to unfold.

But in the short term, we're busy gearing up for our biggest event of the year, which happens this weekend: The Sprawl's pop-up at the Calgary Folk Music Festival.

We will be set up in the family zone on Saturday and Sunday.

At folk fest, we'll have both our mobile Pop-Up Press and our button press going. And we have a special letterpress print designed by local illustrator Tori English—who created it specifically to be on the Pop-Up Press this weekend.

Swing by and make your own! On Saturday, Tori will also be there from 2 to 3 p.m. to sign prints.

In other news we have a new summer intern on board:

Hello! My name is Jullianah Therese Ejoc and I’m a journalism student at SAIT interning with The Sprawl! I’m the kind of person who goes for a walk and sees a story in almost everything. I also love talking to people, so if you see me around, come say hi! I’m looking forward to meeting members of the Sprawl community, hearing your stories and telling stories that make Calgary, Calgary.

See you this weekend at Prince's Island Park, if you'll be at folk fest!

Finally—a reminder that we rely entirely on crowdfunding to do all our work. If you value The Sprawl's local journalism and what we do for Calgary, please support us! Your support is especially crucial given the state of local media.

I am truly grateful when Calgarians support our journalism—especially now.

Jeremy Klaszus is founder and editor of The Sprawl.