Sustainable Development Checklist included as Attachment 1 to this report be approved. That the Sustainable Development Checklist be applied by staff through the Site Plan Approval…

39:04development checklist.

39:06So we'll move it over to you.

39:32Hey, good morning, mayor and members of council.

39:36There's a presentation.

39:37My name is David DeGroote.

39:38I'm a senior urban designer with the city of wealth, and I'm here today with

39:42Rory Templeton.

39:43He's a landscape planner with the city as well as well as other staff.

39:48And we're happy today to present the sustainable development checklist.

39:55So the purpose of this report and presentation is to provide council with

39:59a recommended sustainable development checklist for new site plan approval

40:03applications. And staff are recommending this report in response to a couple of

40:08things, including bill 23 that was recently passed by the province and the

40:14Ministry of Municipal Affairs letter dated February 28th, 2023, which is

40:19attached to the staff report.

40:22The sustainable development checklist will ensure that the city of wealth can

40:25maintain its existing requirements related to sustainable development through

40:29the site plan approval process and establishing the checklist creates

40:33clarity regarding the city's sustainable development expectations for develop

40:37for the development community through the site plan process while allowing for

40:41appropriate flexibility.

40:44It is a placeholder document given the changing regulatory environment for

40:48planning. And I'll talk a little bit about next steps later in the presentation.

40:55So moving on to sort of where this is coming from, the planning act identifies

40:59the promotion of development that is designed to be sustainable, to support

41:04public transit and to be oriented to pedestrians as a matter of provincial

41:08interest that councils shall have regard to.

41:11And that's in section two of the planning act.

41:14The province has through bill 23 made a number of changes to the site plan

41:18approval process. In general, they narrow the scope and generally remove

41:24regulation of exterior design from site plan approval process with some

41:27exceptions by notable exception that we're here to talk about today is

41:33exterior elements related to sustainable design.

41:37And that's also confirmed in the, in the letter that's attached from the

41:40municipal affairs and housing.

41:42The city of wealth at our level has already acknowledged the need to develop

41:46a sustainable development checklist through the natural heritage action plan,

41:50which was approved by council in 2018.

41:53And it was also referenced in the urban design action plan, which was also

41:56approved by council a little bit earlier.

41:59This checklist is an important first step to implement the direction and to

42:03respond to bill 23.

42:07It also is an implementation tool for the urban design, sustainable development

42:10and urban forest policy policies of the official plan.

42:14And I would also note that there are many municipalities with similar

42:17standards or sustainable development programs throughout the province.

42:24The sustainable development checklist before you works in tandem with the

42:27comprehensive zoning bylaw and supports key objectives related to sustainability,

42:33especially in regards to tree planting, to bird friendly design, to walk ability,

42:38et cetera, which given their nature are less suited for regulation through the

42:41comprehensive zoning bylaw.

42:44Other items such as bicycle parking and EV parking are being proposed to be

42:48addressed through the comprehensive zoning bylaw, which she'll be talking

42:50about a little bit later today.

42:55So again, turning to the checklist overview, the performance measures of the

43:00checklist are consistent with current site plan pro site plan requirements

43:05related to sustainable development prior to bill 23 coming into force and effect.

43:09So really what we're doing here is we're writing down this, the, the items that

43:14we typically ask for through the site plan process related to sustainable

43:18development that we have been asking for.

43:21Applicants will be required to conform where applicable to the sustainable

43:24development checklist as they move through the site plan process.

43:27Our flexibility has been implemented into the checklist as well.

43:34And if approved by council, the, we would start applying this as of May 1st of this

43:38year. The sustainable development checklist contains a total of 16 performance

43:45measures that are divided up into five categories, which are listed there on the

43:49slide. These sustainable development categories and performance measures were

43:54selected again, as I said, based on the current existing site plan technical

43:58requirements and no new technical requirements have been added as part of

44:02this checklist. However, it's important to note that there are some placeholders

44:06in there. There, there, there's at least one category that doesn't have anything

44:10other than a description under it. And really this is a placeholder as, as we

44:15develop a more wholesome checklist through the sustainable city master plan,

44:19which is, which is part of the strategic plan. And staff expect that through that

44:24process, this checklist may be expanded or identify other technical requirements

44:29and other optional items. So moving forward, again, this is a bit of a

44:36placeholder as we, as the city moves forward with the sustainable city master

44:42plan, which is an action item under the strategic plan. The checklist will, will

44:50allow us to get a sort of a baseline data of how things are working to test the

44:55checklist and allow for a more wholesome and informed engagement as we move

45:01forward with a sustainable city master plan. And comprehensive community

45:05engagement will be undertaken through that master plan. So with that, there are

45:12two recommendations, one to approve it and one to direct staff to implement the

45:18checklist through the site plan approval process. And that's the end of my

45:22presentation. Happy to answer any questions you may have.

45:26Thank you so much. Let's see if there are any questions. Okay, Karan and then

45:32Guller, please.

45:34No questions. Just, I'm so glad to see this coming before council. As most of you

45:39know, at a lot of planning applications, I am regularly lamenting the energy

45:45letters that come in and the fact that not enough of a checklist is available

45:53about what our expectation expectations are as a council and as a community. And

45:57so thank you staff for bringing this forward and I'm happy to put it on the

46:01floor.

46:02Yeah, and councillor Allt will second it. Councillor Goller questions. Yes,

46:08through your worship. Thank you for, for putting this checklist together. I'm

46:13really excited in particular the ecology and biodiversity section now so that I

46:18understand the teeth that this have. For example, EB one asks that three

46:23planting areas and soil volumes are in conformance with the city's three

46:26technical manual. What happens if we get a checklist back and and it says that

46:32they're not able to to meet this? What what are the teeth in this to compel

46:35people to actually comply with items in the checklist?

46:39Through you, your worship. The it's a bit of a it's a bit of a moving ground with

46:48some of the changes of bill 23. So acknowledge that at the beginning of my

46:52answer, but the province, if you read the changes to bill 23 and including

46:57sustainable development, still an element for the city to comment on and and

47:03taken together with that letter from from the ministry, you know, having

47:08trees that work and and that are going to grow and be successful is something

47:13that we can review and and comment on as part of the site plan approval process.

47:17So there is some flexibility to have that debate a little bit with the

47:22developer in there, but we have now clear standards and a way forward to move

47:27forward. So I mean, it comes down to the site plan approval process and taken

47:31together that application process. OK, OK, no, thank you for that. But to be

47:36clear, does that give you grounds to deny application that is not conforming or

47:42is it more about this is what we would really like to see in wealth? We hope

47:46that you do it out of the goodness of your your heart.

47:52Premier Guthrie to count sir Gowler. If it's the way the changes to the

47:58Planning Act work for sure on municipal boulevards, we can require it. We can

48:02deny an application if they don't provide it there on their internal site. If

48:05they don't provide the trees, the landscaping, we're not in a position to

48:10do that to deny it at this time. OK, OK, thank you for that clarification.

48:14I'm still very excited that at least these are here in an accessible way so

48:19that the expectations from the city are clear to developers. Thank you.

48:25Councillor Chew and then boost it all.

48:28Through you, Mr. Mayor, nice to finally meet you. It's nice to have another

48:32urban designer come on board on the Council chambers. I just want to say

48:37this is really great work and this isn't as rigorous as the Toronto Green

48:41Standards, but I do think this is an important step in helping applicants set

48:45expectations for what our city standards are. It also helps us build

48:49a social relationships with applicants to set expectations and provide an

48:54educational component throughout the process. I know a lot of landscape

48:57architects and design practitioners, they already have built in standards that

49:01they use within their firms. And I think having this additional piece as

49:06part of their toolkit could be very helpful. And then I would encourage

49:11staff as well to consider any opportunities to do similar work in

49:16house as well for future urban design excellence.

49:23And boost it till please. Thank you. And through the mayor, can you remind me

49:28in a development application process? I know there's the public process.

49:33Is the site plan information publicly accessible? What I'm wondering is just

49:38that accountability if there's a development happening in my area that I

49:43am able to see the site plan, the sustainability checklist and is there

49:47public information to this development meets meets doesn't meet? Is that

49:53publicly available as they go through the process?

50:01Through the mayor to Council, who's a tell. So the site plan process is not a

50:04public process. So it's an internal process through staff. As David DeGroote

50:10mentioned that we are going to be monitoring this as we come up with the

50:12city sustainability plan and we'll be keeping our own metrics on this to see

50:16where we're conforming and where we're not. And then that'll help us inform a

50:19future city sustainability plan as well. So we'll be keeping our internal

50:23metrics on the conformance rate. Just a supplemental. Does it come? Does it come

50:29to Council at some point as well around development and meeting the

50:36sustainability checklist kind of objectives? So at this point, we haven't

50:41actually even talked that far, but it will be included in information as we do

50:45the city sustainability plan. So it will be available in some format. As of

50:51April 6th, we have additional reporting requirements that we will be bringing

50:54to Council quarterly through information reports on site plan approval

50:58timelines. And then we're taking a look at if there's any other information we

51:02provide to the province on some of those timelines as well. But we that just came

51:06out on the 6th and we're not through that review yet. Just finally, just around

51:11that accountability process and in site plan. I know it's a staff process, but

51:17it would be great in developing community and that, you know, obligation and,

51:21you know, commitment to align with the city sustainability goals to have

51:28access, public access to that information. I'm thinking about, you know, the

51:32development application process. I can look at things just to consideration that

51:37as a resident, it would be great to advocate for a development that meets

51:42those criteria. Thank you. Okay, I just have a few questions then and then I'll

51:50look to call the vote. So my first question is actually just dovetailing

51:54into a little bit further where Councillor Boosentill just brought up and it was

51:58just asking how is this going to, is this going to, we know how we have our

52:08energy, I'm sorry, applicants for applications that come forward. There's

52:13usually like an energy sort of checklist that's usually attached to

52:17applications, whereas this is not. So is this something that could be considered

52:27through staff when you're working with developers before the application comes

52:31forward, that something like this could be included at the application stage?

52:41Through Mayor Guthrie. So the checklist will be part of the site plan

52:48requirements. We focused it solely on site plan. So as part of their pre

52:51consultation when they come in for site plan, it'll be identified as an item

52:54that they're to complete and provide back to us. You know, we do have a 60 day

53:00turnaround as mandated by the province and it was mandated that that process for

53:05site plan just maybe follow up on Councillor Boosentill's question that it be

53:08direct, it be run by staff and not Council. So but yes, we will provide the

53:14information at the precon stage, but not at the zoning stage. That level of

53:19details is not required at zoning. Okay. And then the letter from the ministry

53:24also indicated that they are looking to work with municipalities in coming into

53:30the summer of this year to potentially find ways of moving things from sort of a

53:36checklist stage into maybe changing the Ontario building code to make it have

53:42more teeth that has to be adhered to. Has our staff reached out at all or have we

53:48considered as a city of Guelph to officially ask to partner in that review

53:53stage? So we have a place at the table with our views.

53:58Mayor Guthrie, we have we have not reached out since we received the letter of

54:02February 28th. Okay. Are you thinking of is Guelph thinking of putting up its hand

54:11to say we would love to give input on that in a more formal partnership type of

54:17style or and I know there's staffing capacity. So I acknowledge that right

54:21off the bat. Or is it something that maybe when the ERO opens up that would be

54:26more of a commenting option for us?

54:31Mayor Guthrie, certainly for when the ERO comes out, we definitely would if it's

54:35through that process. But we can take it back and maybe take it back to some of

54:39our other bodies that we interact with and have some further conversations as

54:45well. Okay, great. And I guess if anyone's my last kind of a last comment slash

54:51question, if anyone at all was concerned about this, even within the development

54:56community, it's like, oh, you know, here's another checklist or something like

54:59that. I mean, it's really a mute point because you still have to be adhering to

55:07the accountability of the timelines that are imposed on municipalities.

55:11Anyways, regardless of this checklist or any other items that are required for

55:15site plan, there's now timelines embedded that have to be met. Is that

55:20something that you would agree with that you've heard from developers or others

55:25that might have been concerned with this being added?

55:30Mayor Guthrie, so that that is correct. And as Mr. DeGroote mentioned, that

55:34it's really a summary of existing policies and practices that we already have.

55:38We haven't gone above and beyond our standard practices. So it's a summary of

55:41here's our bird friendly design guidelines. Here's our tree planting

55:45manual. Here's our lighting policies. So it's a combination of everything handy

55:49in one place. So the hope for us is that it actually makes it easier.

55:53Yeah, thank you for highlighting that. I appreciate it. Okay, that was that was

55:57it for me. And I was about to call the vote. But do you have something more to

56:00say, Councillor Chew?

56:03Through you, Mr. Mayor, just very quickly, I think the whole point of this

56:07checklist is to set an expectation. I know a lot of municipalities, especially

56:11in the GTA, they already have stuff like this in place. And I don't think it's

56:15cumbersome to have it as an additional piece in the conversation during site

56:21plan. I think planning staff, it's really about building relationships and

56:25rapport and also setting expectations so that when things come forward,

56:29like it's already agreed upon, there's consensus. So it doesn't have to be

56:33contentious like it is traditionally here. And we're really just moving forward

56:38to the 21st century of planning here in Guelph. And I'm really excited to have

56:43this put forward. And I hope everyone can consider it from that viewpoint as well

56:46from educational piece that staff are able to provide with their knowledge and

56:50expertise.

56:53Great, thank you. Totally agree. Well said. Thank you. Okay, I'll call the vote then.

56:58Is anyone against the sustainability checklist? Seeing no hands go up. So

57:03that's unanimous as well. Thank you to staff for also thank you for staff for

57:09bringing us forward when you did as well. Nice to get that done. So thank you

57:12very much. Okay, we are going into this itty bitty report called the

57:20comprehensive zoning bylaw and companion official plan amendment. We're going to

57:25have. See here.

57:30Well, what I'll do everyone just want to give everyone sort of a heads up. Let's

57:34let's move ourselves through. Actually, let me just get off the mic for one

57:37second. Got to confer with the clerks. I was just conferring just to try to

58:05manage time as we go with the presentation and with the delegations

58:11just to give everyone enough of a heads up about break time or things like that

58:15to consider. So may I just ask, do you have an idea how long the staff

58:20presentation is in its entirety? For years of work? Should I give you five

58:26minutes? Can we can we ask for 25 please? Oh yeah, you could use whatever you

58:31want. Yeah, I just wanted to know what it what it what it is. Okay, so I think

58:35what we'll do folks, I just want to give everyone a heads up. I'm trying to make

58:38sure things work out well here. So let's let's do the presentation and and then

58:44right away into our delegations and get those out of the way. And then

58:49depending on the time right there, it may be a natural time and maybe though,

58:52okay, we've heard everything take a break. People can grab a lunch or a little

58:56bite to eat or whatever. I mean, come back and just kick right into it. Or if

59:00there's a little bit of time, we could do a little bit of some questions before

59:02we take a break. But I would say around sort of 1145 range as a sort of a

59:09heads up to everybody. That's when we'll start to really look at having a hard

59:13break. So we can all just take a moment. Okay, so I just wanted to say that out

59:17loud so everyone knew in advance. So with that, I'll call upon our staff to

59:22kick us off with this this great report.

59:27All right. Thank you, Mayor Guthrie and good morning, everyone. So we're

59:31definitely excited to be here today to bring forward the comprehensive review

59:35of the zoning bylaw as well as the companion official plan amendment for

59:38decision. As I start, I want to thank staff, Abby, Watte in particular, and

59:44you'll see a Pethro staff throughout the audience today, including a chunk of

59:48them in row three who've all been working hard to bring this forward. Based on

59:53the number of pages, you know, it took a whole team to bring this forward and it

59:56was not just a few people sitting up here. So we'll walk through some of the

1:00:01changes that were raised at the public meeting in July. And we have done a lot

1:00:06of further consideration of those. In some cases, we were able to add additional

1:00:10changes. And in some cases, it was our professional opinion not to make those

1:00:14changes. And in some cases, the changes were in alignment with previous

1:00:19decisions and recommendations of staff. We do recognize that there was a lot to

1:00:24read. And we tried to make it easy as possible by including a red line revision

1:00:29of changes made that hopefully was a quick reference guide to what was what

1:00:34was changed. Attachment five is a summary of council and community concerns,

1:00:39along with staff comment on those individual items that were raised.

1:00:43Attachment six to 13 are individual reviews, some of the topics that were

1:00:48raised at the July public meeting. And we have completed a thorough review on

1:00:53those topics that were raised in July. For example, attachment six driveway with

1:00:58review and recommendations summary is 25 pages. It includes comparisons with

1:01:05other municipalities, comments from our advisory committees, images, photos and

1:01:10other policies that help form our recommendation, including our policies on

1:01:14stormwater, urban forest, tree canopy, transportation and our council's

1:01:20commitment to the race to zero, all of which help inform our recommendation that

1:01:25we put forward to council. We have previously shared that the current bylaw

1:01:32is from 1995. And in 1995, our population was 95,000. The current bylaw as is in

1:01:40front of you today, I think is progressive. It shows a lot of insight and

1:01:44foresight, and will help us grow our community to 2051 and 208,000 people. So

1:01:51go from 95,000 to 208,000. The parameters are set out within this bylaw.

1:01:57Abby and our team have researched zoning trends, have reviewed council approved

1:02:02policies and master plans and have produced a very friendly user friendly

1:02:07document. I know we're going to get fixated on a few issues and that's okay.

1:02:11But there's some really good regulations in the bylaw and you know some of the

1:02:16councils have asked us what we're particularly proud of. And some of those

1:02:20items are EV chargers, bike parking, urban agriculture, additional housing

1:02:25permissions on individual lots. We put in zoning for stacked townhouses and back

1:02:30to backs that come to council regularly. We have permissions for supportive housing

1:02:38and we've provided three unit demonstration plans to show what those can

1:02:41actually look like to make it easier for the reader and the community. Through

1:02:47this document, we've also pre zoned a lot of land. This should result in fewer

1:02:51site specific applications, but we've made it very clear what our design

1:02:55expectations are as part of that pre zoning. And there has been some pushback

1:03:00on the design expectations that are in there. But we do want to make it clear

1:03:05that if you're pre zoned, these are our expectations because you can go right to

1:03:08site plan if you choose. And that's a time saving option that we've given the

1:03:13development community through this. The end of exclusionary zoning was

1:03:18introduced in July. We were ahead of the province on that on that forefront. And

1:03:24we're looking at ways to see how we can gently increase our housing choice,

1:03:27supply and options in all parts of the city without fundamentally changing the

1:03:32way those neighborhoods look and feel. While the end of exclusionary zoning is

1:03:38not the silver bullet to resolve the housing crisis, it does help along the

1:03:43continuum of housing. Part of wealth's vision is that we are leaders who shape

1:03:48tomorrow. We tackle local and global challenges through innovation, art and

1:03:52action. And we're committed to inclusive prosperity because together we're

1:03:56stronger. We have used these words in our review of the comprehensive zoning by

1:04:01law and the draft by law reflects this vision. Leveraging smart zoning reforms

1:04:09and pre zoning can unleash housing supply to help meet the needs of current and

1:04:14future residents. We are at a unique crossroads in time today. We have the

1:04:20opportunity collectively to reimagine how we want to experience her city and

1:04:26how the city's form can help enhance her relationship with each other. Council has

1:04:31made purposeful decisions to ensure we become a healthy urban climate resilient

1:04:36city of 208,000 in 2051. I'm fully aware we're about to have some conversations

1:04:50on parking and we will we will go through those. We have provided our staff

1:04:54recommendations and our supports for those. So we are hoping that we can move

1:04:58through them quickly. You have staff's recommendations and documentation in

1:05:02front of you. So with that, I will turn it over to Abby Watts and to go through

1:05:11the zoning by law. And thank you, Abby.

1:05:16Great. Thank you, Krista. Good morning, Mayor Guthrie and members of council. We

1:05:20are pleased to be here today to present the comprehensive zoning by law and

1:05:24companion official plan for amendment for decision today. The zoning by law review

1:05:32was initiated in 2019 and has been a multi year project involving multiple

1:05:37touch points with council stakeholders and the community. The zoning by law

1:05:41consists of five phases and a decision today on the proposed zoning by law

1:05:45completes phase four of the project. Phase five is implementation of the new

1:05:50by law, including updating the city's website, finalizing the interactive

1:05:54components of the by law and staff training. The project was initiated in

1:06:01January of 2019. Some background on the project. We released two discussion

1:06:06papers in October of 2019. That was the comprehensive zoning by law review

1:06:11discussion paper and the Gwell parking standards discussion paper prepared by

1:06:15IBI group. Staff also worked with IBI group to provide an additional council

1:06:20parking workshop in April of 2021. The additional residential unit review was

1:06:26brought forward to council and approved in December of 2020 in 2020 to in order

1:06:31to comply with provincial legislation and changes made under bill 108. The first

1:06:37draft of the new zoning by law was released in November of 2021 and

1:06:41included community consultation. The second draft of the by law was released

1:06:47in July of 2022 with the public open house and statutory public

1:06:52meeting at council. Since the public meeting, staff have been conducting

1:06:56additional community engagement, meeting with stakeholders, conducting

1:07:00additional studies to ensure we have up to date information and finalizing the

1:07:04zoning by law text and mapping. The existing zoning by law is from 1995 as

1:07:11mentioned a couple times, which means it's been 28 years since it's been

1:07:16comprehensively reviewed. The zoning by law is required to be consistent with

1:07:20provincial policy and conform to the official plan. Since the zoning by law

1:07:25was last comprehensively reviewed, the official plan has been reviewed a number

1:07:30of times. It was updated in 2001 through the through OPA 14, 2009 through OPA 39,

1:07:392010 through OPA 42 and 2012 through OPA 48. Substantial policy reviews for the

1:07:48official plan were completed in the 2006 commercial policy review and the 2018

1:07:53commercial policy review update. The St. Patrick's Ward land use study was

1:07:59completed in 2004 and the Guelph Innovation District secondary plan in 2014.

1:08:06The zoning by law has not been updated to conform with any of these updates to the

1:08:10official plan. So the proposed zoning by law is catching up on a lot of previously

1:08:15approved policy and direction and it implements regulations that support these

1:08:19directions, policies and land use designations. The proposed zoning by law is

1:08:24also a key document that will support the achievement of housing targets for the

1:08:292031 housing pledge. Since the notice of decision meeting was circulated to the

1:08:34community on March 23rd and the release of the final zoning by law on March 29th,

1:08:39the city has also received a decision on official plan amendment 80 from the

1:08:45province. OPA 80 updates the official plan to conform with provincial plans and

1:08:49policies and conform to a place to grow. The province's decision on OPA 80 was

1:08:55received a week ago today. The proposed zoning by law does implement a

1:09:00substantial amount of the official plan with the exception of the recent OPA 80

1:09:04changes and staff continue to recommend approval of the zoning by law, which is a

1:09:09large body of work that has taken a number of years to complete. OPA 80

1:09:13implementation is on the city's work plan and a future update to the zoning by law

1:09:18will implement these changes. The new zoning by law will repeal and replace the

1:09:22existing 1995 zoning by law in its entirety. Since the statutory public

1:09:29meeting in July of last year, the province also released bill 23 and changes to

1:09:34the planning act. Changes made to section 41 of the planning act now limit the

1:09:39review of exterior design through the site plan process and changes also exempt

1:09:44developments of 10 units and less from the site plan process. However, provincial

1:09:49policy or provincial interest under section two of the planning act and the

1:09:53provincial policy statements still apply and section 34 of the planning act

1:09:58allows us to continue to regulate the construction of buildings and structures

1:10:02through the zoning by law. This includes the type of construction and the height,

1:10:07bulk, location, size, floor area, spacing, character and use of buildings or

1:10:12structures, the minimum lot, frontage and depth and building coverage. This also

1:10:18includes regulating the minimum elevation of doors, windows and openings and

1:10:21buildings or structures, parking and loading, the minimum size of land,

1:10:27density and height of buildings. Go ahead too quickly. Additional regulations

1:10:35have been added to the zoning by law, including regulations for drive aisle

1:10:38width, screening and location of rooftop mechanicals, active frontage

1:10:42requirements, principal entrance requirements, maximum building setbacks

1:10:47and all these elements were previously reviewed through the site plan process.

1:10:52Adding these regulations to the zoning by law ensures that staff continue to be

1:10:55able to address these aspects through the development process. And the zoning

1:11:00by law has also undergone an outside peer and legal review through this project.

1:11:06So some key highlights to the new zoning by law include conformity, substantial

1:11:11conformity with the official plan. And it conformed with the official plan on the

1:11:16date the notice was provided to the community. The proposed zoning by law

1:11:20also aligns with other city plans such as the transportation master plan,

1:11:24urban forest management plan, store, modern master plan, energy and climate

1:11:28change initiatives and the race to zero. This by law is one of the first

1:11:33hybrid form based by laws in Ontario and we're very proud of the overall look

1:11:37and usability of this by law. It includes charts, illustrations and notes

1:11:42to add clarity to the regulations and make the document as user friendly as

1:11:45possible for the public. With a zoning by law that's 28 years old, there are

1:11:54a number of outdated regulations and uses included in our by law. The proposed

1:11:59zoning by law modernizes regulations and ensures alignment with other

1:12:03municipal practices. A number of uses have been updated and simplified.

1:12:08Vehicle parking regulations have been reviewed and updated. Bicycle and

1:12:12electric vehicle standards have been included as well as adding flexibility

1:12:16for home occupation regulations. We've also reviewed committee of

1:12:21committee of adjustment decisions and made changes where continuous issues

1:12:26were arising. The proposed zoning by law carries forward recent approved

1:12:31development applications. And in addition, the by law includes transition

1:12:35provisions to ensure existing applications will continue through their

1:12:40process without needing to meet the requirements of the new by law. These

1:12:43transition provisions give applicants two years to complete their application

1:12:48and in some cases five years where it's a multi-phased development. In addition,

1:12:56the proposed zoning by law zones the city's natural heritage system for the

1:13:00first time and ensures no new development is permitted within these areas. It

1:13:05adds bicycle parking requirements citywide and introduces electric vehicle

1:13:09parking. It eliminates exclusionary zoning, permitting a variety of housing

1:13:13types within residential areas and opens up infill opportunities, encouraging

1:13:18a range and mix of housing types. New mixed use zones permit a significant

1:13:25amount of residential within the city's nodes and intensification corridors,

1:13:28encouraging walkable mixed use neighborhoods. The by law includes minimum

1:13:33landscaped open space and buffer strip. Requirements to ensure green space and

1:13:38provide opportunities to plant trees. And the by law has also been updated to

1:13:43meet provincial accessibility standards. And in the case of accessible

1:13:47driveways, the permissions go above and beyond what AODA requires and allows

1:13:52more flexibility than most municipalities do. Community engagement was a large

1:13:59component of this project undertaken with each phase. Feedback has been taken

1:14:04into consideration to inform changes as we've moved throughout this project.

1:14:09Community engagement has included information sessions, workshops,

1:14:13open house, staff, staff office hours, consultation with council advisory

1:14:20committees, including the planning advisory committee, the accessibility

1:14:23advisory committee on multiple occasions, stakeholder meetings, including

1:14:28attending the city's liaison meeting with wealth home builders and developers,

1:14:32ward meetings and other special interest group presentations. We've mailed a

1:14:39postcard to every property within the city to advise them of the project. And

1:14:43we have over 250 people who have requested to stay informed of this

1:14:46project to date. We've received over 660 comments from the public and there's

1:14:52been over 3,900 visits to our project website. So we heard from council at the

1:15:00statutory public meeting that we need to review and consider a number of key

1:15:04aspects of the zoning bylaw before bringing it back to council for a

1:15:07decision. This included consideration for formalizing the current driveway with

1:15:12exemption criteria for semi-detached and on-street townhouses, reviewing the

1:15:17shipping container regulations with the community and considering removing the

1:15:20maximum number of containers permitted on a lot, permit supportive housing as of

1:15:26right within the city. We heard encouragement for the gentle density

1:15:32within residential neighborhoods and support for removing exclusionary

1:15:37zoning, but an interesting guidelines for three unit buildings that demonstrate

1:15:41how they would fit within the context of existing neighborhoods. Council

1:15:45requested an update to the 2019 off-street parking study for multiple

1:15:49residential buildings. We were asked to consider removing the parking

1:15:56adjustment area from the Gordon Street Intensive Occasion Area and to

1:15:59consider increasing visitor parking in the parking adjustment area for

1:16:03apartment buildings and mixed use buildings. And finally, we were asked to

1:16:06review home occupation provisions. So staff have gone back and a paper has been

1:16:12written on each of these topics to provide a thorough background review of

1:16:17each issue and additional rationale for staff's final recommendations. These

1:16:22papers have been included in the staff report as attachments for your

1:16:28consideration. So staff have updated the bylaw to allow supportive housing as of

1:16:34right in any zone that permits residential uses in the city, as well as the

1:16:38neighborhood institutional zones. We've also reviewed and updated home

1:16:42occupations to simplify the regulations and allow them within accessory

1:16:46structures and additional residential dwelling units. So for driveway with

1:16:54recommendations, staff conducted a cross departmental review of the driveway with

1:16:59issue and have included a paper that outlines the background information,

1:17:03existing policy, other municipal practices and highlights the goals and

1:17:07objectives of approved city plans. And this is attachment six of the staff

1:17:11report materials. The driveway with review has included staff from a number

1:17:16of different departments, including engineering and traffic, forestry,

1:17:21planning and urban design, zoning, corporate energy and climate change,

1:17:25operations and accessibility. Based on this review, staff continue to

1:17:30recommend that the zoning bylaw maintain the 50% landscaped open space

1:17:35requirement in the in the front yard. This is to ensure adequate area to

1:17:39park in a driveway while maintaining landscape space to provide for storm

1:17:43water management, allow for street trees and provide opportunities for on

1:17:47street parking. Staff are also recommending that the existing permission for a