Staff presentation on changes to Zoning By-law resulting from Bill 23

Presentation

At the October 4 Planning and Housing Committee meeting, we passed interim Zoning Amendments, until Council adoption of the new Zoning By-law, for the City of Ottawa to be compliant with Bill 23, the Provincial legislation that permits 3 units to be built on every site that has city services. This means that R1 zoning, which restricts building to one home on one lot, is effectively over for many College Ward neighbourhoods. Single units can now be three units, and semi-detached can effectively have 3 units each, for a total of 6 units on one lot. This is a big change, and one I know will be felt by many neighbours in Ottawa. I was sure to share information about the provincial bill during my campaign, and in my first communications in office, but if you missed it, you can find it here: How will Bill 23 affect residents?

At the October 4 Planning and Housing Committee meeting, we passed interim Zoning Amendments, until Council adoption of the new Zoning By-law, for the City of Ottawa to be compliant with Bill 23, the Provincial legislation that permits 3 units to be built on every site that has city services. This means that R1 zoning, which restricts building to one home on one lot, is effectively over for many College Ward neighbourhoods. Single units can now be three units, and semi-detached can effectively have 3 units each, for a total of 6 units on one lot. This is a big change, and one I know will be felt by many neighbours in Ottawa. I was sure to share information about the provincial bill during my campaign, and in my first communications in office, but if you missed it, you can find it here: How will Bill 23 affect residents?

This interim zoning provision is intended only to be in place until the full comprehensive zoning bylaw review is complete (https://engage.ottawa.ca/zoning), and it seeks to harmonize those pieces of zoning that regulate triplexes with other zoning that regulates secondary dwelling units, because this new zoning could be considered either way. A major part of the discussion was on the provision of parking, and it was decided that you could offer rear yard parking (like triplexes) but with the caveat that 15% of the yard has to remain soft landscaping (currently no landscaping minimums are in place under the bylaws).

A maximum 70% of a rear yard  will be permitted for parking in the R1-R5 zones, whereas today no such restriction exists and one could hypothetically use their entire rear yard for parking. I am satisfied that this interim solution will bring some predictability for both residents and builders who are looking to move forward with Provincial direction, but have been waiting for a year for this to come to pass.

For more information, please check out the summaries from the City.

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