{"id":4563,"date":"2026-04-14T13:16:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T13:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/4563\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T13:16:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T13:16:17","slug":"councillors-to-consider-new-rules-for-developments-built-near-calgary-music-venues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/4563\/","title":{"rendered":"Councillors to consider new rules for developments built near Calgary music venues"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As some patrons of the Ship &amp; Anchor fret about the pub\u2019s future, city councillors will consider new rules for developers building near music or cultural venues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Ward 9 Coun. Harrison Clark is behind the notice of motion, which suggests Calgary adopt an &#8220;agent of change&#8221; framework.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It&#8217;s a policy already in place in cities like Toronto. Essentially, the party proposing changes has the onus of mitigating sound: if it\u2019s a developer building residential units near an existing music venue, it\u2019s on them; if it\u2019s a new music venue, the people behind it carry the burden.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Ward 9 is home to many music venues, which made the policy a priority for Clark coming off the campaign trail, he told CBC Radio&#8217;s Calgary Eyeopener.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Lots of historic neighbourhoods with long history,&#8221; Clark said. &#8220;So it was really just remembering &#8230; how it&#8217;s been, and a lot of concern for how that might change as those neighbourhoods densify and renew.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">LISTEN | Ward 9 Coun. Harrison Clark breaks down &#8216;agent of change&#8217; policies:<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The notice of motion comes after council <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/calgary\/ship-anchor-development-9.7054962\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:approved an application;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;approved an application&quot;}\" class=\"link \">approved an application<\/a> in January to redevelop the building that houses iconic 17th Avenue pub the Ship &amp; Anchor, along with the building next to it, to add residential units.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We&#8217;re going to see development occur right above it, and all the nerves that came with that, so it was a perfect confirmation that this is the time to look at this policy,&#8221; Clark said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The pub&#8217;s owner told council he worries their new neighbours will complain about the sound of live music.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Nicola Trolez, the Ship&#8217;s director of operations, recently met with Clark to discuss the proposal and applauds the idea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The development of the Ship really presents an opportunity for us to &#8230; get it right and perhaps even set a precedent for how these issues are considered in the future,&#8221; said Trolez.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">City council&#8217;s executive committee will consider the notice of motion Tuesday. If approved, it will come before council for a full debate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Acoustics expert sees path forward<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A lifelong Calgarian, Taylor Smyth says he has many fond memories of time spent at the Ship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;What makes 17th Avenue what it is, is businesses like the Ship &amp; Anchor, and to see those go would I think be quite a loss,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">And he thinks it&#8217;s preventable. As the general manager for Merlin Noise Control, he&#8217;s seen success with residential units built directly over live music spaces, similar to the plan for the Ship &amp; Anchor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">His company works with architects and engineers to design acoustic ceilings and floors, like a floating slab with spring isolators that goes on top of the floor. It limits how much sound carries from room to room.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Taylor Smyth's company, Merlin Noise Control, designs acoustic floors and ceilings to minimize sound travel.  \" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/27f6db0d36bd982966713d25bea3a12a.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>(Submitted by Taylor Smyth)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Canadian Acoustical Association is working on guidelines that municipalities can follow as neighbourhoods densify and noise conflicts become more common.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;When we&#8217;re looking to design cities, we have to start taking noise into consideration a lot earlier on,&#8221; said Dan Clayton, the association&#8217;s president. <\/p>\n<p>He says there also needs to be adaptability. What&#8217;s too noisy for one person might be acceptable to another, and residents in busier downtown hubs might have a higher sound tolerance, Clayton said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Acoustics and noise isn&#8217;t as straightforward as one design will fit every situation,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Finding harmony<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Clayton said an agent of change policy is a good first step.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Canadian Live Music Association also supports it. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What makes Calgary vibrant and attractive is its local venues, festivals, and other cultural output,&#8221; Maddy Oliver, the association&#8217;s interim executive director, said in a statement. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Agent of Change is a proven framework to ensure that new developments can cohabitate harmoniously with the very entities making those new developments necessary.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Strategic Group, the developer behind the project at the Ship &amp; Anchor, said in a statement it &#8220;welcomes\u00a0the\u00a0strengthened regulations around development near existing entertainment venues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;This approach aligns with the process we have followed in the past, ensuring that much of this thinking is already incorporated into our development projects.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">When it comes to the Ship &amp; Anchor project, it says, &#8220;we have thoughtfully\u00a0and proactively adjusted our development plans ensuring that sound mitigation and the expectations of future residential tenants are taken into consideration at the design stage of our planning.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The developer says the Ship &amp; Anchor will continue to operate during construction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As some patrons of the Ship &amp; Anchor fret about the pub\u2019s future, city councillors will consider new&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[51,2888,2891,2886,2887,1813,2889,2890],"class_list":{"0":"post-4563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary","8":"tag-calgary","9":"tag-calgary-eyeopener","10":"tag-development","11":"tag-harrison-clark","12":"tag-music-venue","13":"tag-neighbourhoods","14":"tag-notice-of-motion","15":"tag-residential-units"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}