in some areas either of both of those might make some things easier but using that as an excuse to do nothing is a cop out.
the city is able to enact zoning and land use criteria without a big city charter or changes to the mga and they have the ability to enforce those criteria. they simply need to be prepared to grow up and act like the big city we are charter notwithstanding.
how about simply enacting a bylaw that says that "any undeveloped vacant lot facing a public roadway shall be graded such that no portion of the lot shall vary more than 18" above or below municipal grades at the property line and all sides of an undeveloped vacant lot facing a street or a lane shall have a minimum landscaped setback of 7.5 metres which shall include a minimum of one deciduous boulevard tree with a minimum caliper size of 15 cm every 7.5 metres..."
if the city can enforce grading and noxious weed bylaws etc. on more than 200,000 single family lots in edmonton, surely they could enforce something like this.
if they wanted to get really creative, the city could even insist that the boulevard trees and other landscaping elements be such that they would form the basis of an urban orchard using fruit trees and bushes and the plan would need to include raised gardening beds for vegetable and/or flower gardens.
