Britannia Caveat
The City of Calgary was the original planner and developer of the Britannia Subdivision in 1954. In order to define and preserve the unique design, features and character of the neighbourhood, the City created the Building Scheme For Britannia Subdivision. The Scheme requires generous setbacks that make Britannia “green” and allow residents a higher degree of privacy than offered in many other communities. It limits the height of the homes that border the ridge, and it prevents secondary/backyard suites, sub-division and trade in the residential area. A brief history of Britannia, its initial subdivision, and its link to the Royal Family is found here.
To enforce the Scheme, the City registered the Britannia Caveat on most properties in Britannia at the time of subdivision.
The Britannia Caveat is a legal contract between each and every property owner who has the Caveat registered on title. This contract is separate from City of Calgary zoning (land use) rules and overrides the City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw. The City does not have the legal authority to rewrite the tenets of the Caveat as they do with zoning bylaws. The original homes were required to be compliant to the Caveat (though there were a few that were non-compliant). Any redevelopment must be compliant to the Caveat.
The Britannia Caveat is used to govern new house construction (replacing a house with a house). However, there is a clause in the Caveat “Only one single family dwelling house and private garage attached or unattached to such dwelling house, may be erected on each lot”. We believe this clause will allow the Britannia Caveat to be used to prevent densification, specifically multi-unit buildings (rowhouses). The Elboya Restrictive Covenant Webpage discusses this issue further.
Caveat Enforcement: The Caveat is a legal contract between all the property owner whose property is registered on the Caveat. If a property owner does not comply with the Caveat, the other property owns can take legal action to enforce compliance.
The Britannia Caveat Committee (BCC) was established in the 1990’s to support Britannia Community Association members who initiate legal action to enforce the Caveat. Click here for more information the Britannia Caveat History.
The BCC continues to actively, and rigorously, monitor all aspects of the Britannia Caveat a coordinate and support members undertaking legal action:
Provide information about the Caveat and advice at the early stages of planning as to what is required to comply with the Caveat. A preliminary review of the plans may be performed if requested by the property owner or designer/architect.
Monitor and review Development Permit Application plans.
Communicate with the homeowner or designers/architects if the plans as reviewed do not comply.
Coordinate homeowners within Britannia to act as plaintiffs to defend the Caveat, should a breach occur or be imminent. on most properties in Britannia at the time of subdivision.
Support appeals regarding Caveat enforcement with the City of Calgary’s Subdivision and Development Appeal Board.
Raise funds to support actions enforcing or defending the Caveat.
BCC ongoing success in enforcing the Caveat depends upon continued vigilance. There are still rare cases where a Development Permit Application challenges the validity of the Caveat. In such cases, the BCC may incur legal costs to support residents and defend the Caveat (legal costs have averaged about $15,000 per year over the last 5 years). The BCC maintains a Caveat Fund through donations from the community to pay these costs. The last Caveat Fund raising initiative was in 2019 and we need to replenish the fund.
Significant funding will be required in the future if the Caveat is used to fight a densification development.
Please consider donating to our Caveat Enforcement Fund. You can make your donation by:
Cheque: payable to the Britannia Caveat Committee and may be mailed to the Elboya-Heights Britannia Community Association. PO Box 30573, RPO Chinook, 6455 Macleod Trail SW, T2H 2W2 or dropped off at 808 Madison Ave. S.W. Please provide your mailing address.
Donate on the Communal fundraising page using the button below.
Donations do not qualify for a CRA tax receipt.
If you are not already a member of the Elboya – Britannia Community Association, please consider returning to the Membership page and joining.
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