HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-15-012 - Comprehensive Review of the Zoning By-law (CRoZBy)
REPORT TO: Planning & Strategic Initiatives Committee
DATE OF MEETING: March 30, 2015
SUBMITTED BY: Alain Pinard, Director of Planning, 519-741-2200 ext. 7319
PREPARED BY: Natalie Goss, Senior Planner,519-741-2200 ext. 7067
Sarah Coutu, Policy Planner, 519-741-2200 ext. 7069
WARD(S) INVOLVED: ALL
DATE OF REPORT: March 11, 2015
REPORT NO.: CSD-15-012
SUBJECT: Comprehensive Review of the Zoning By-law (CRoZBy)
Zoning By-law 2015-001:Component A First Draft
______________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION: That staff consult on Zoning By-law 2015-001:Component
A First Draft in accordance with the requirements of the and as
Planning Act
further outlined in report CSD-15-012.
BACKGROUND:
-law 85-1(existing Zoning By-law) was adopted through
several amendments beginning in 1985. The Planning Act requires that municipalities
amend their Zoning By-laws within three (3) years of a new Official Plan being in effect.
In June 2014 Council adopted the City. The new Official Plan has
been approved by the Region of Waterloo and is currently under appeal.
Through CSD-13-067 staff recommended preparing interim updates to the existing
Zoning By-law in advance of the comprehensive review. Those updates were completed
through various reports in 2013 and 2014. In May 2014 the Comprehensive Review of
the Zoning By-law (CRoZBy), was launched through report CSD-14-027.
REPORT:
The CRoZBy Process
The CRoZBy project will be completed in five (5) phases as outlined in Appendix A.In
2014 staff completed the first two phases. Phase 1 included the development of a work
program, public/stakeholder engagement plan and, a preliminary issues list all of which
were the subject of report CSD-14-027.
*** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. ***
Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance.
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Phase 2- Project Launch and Issue Identification
The first round of public and stakeholder consultation began in June 2014 with two
public drop-in sessions held at the Forest Heights and Stanley Park Community
Centres. These sessions provided the public with the opportunity to learn about zoning
andsubmit comments on existing Zoning By-law. Approximately twelve
people were in attendance at these sessions. An online survey was also available on
for the month of June 2014 to obtain public comments.Eleven
responses were received via the online survey.
During June to August 2014, staff conducted individual meetings with 11 interested
stakeholders,including agencies (i.e. the Region of Waterloo, CN Rail, and Grand River
Conservation Authority), developers, planning consultants and community groups. In
addition, staff provided an overview of the CRoZBy process at the June 2014 Waterloo
Region Home Builders Association Liaison meeting and obtained their comments on
the existing Zoning By-law.
Through this first round of consultation, the general areas of interest included:
Residential zones, including development in existing neighbourhoods;
Mixed use zones;
Employment zones;
Environmental and recreation zones, including where they would apply;
Preservation of institutional lands;
Parking and drive-throughs;
Planning Act bonusing provisions;
Legal non-conforming uses;
Urban design;
Heritage conservation, and;
Urban agriculture, community gardens and temporary farmers markets.
Phase 3 Research, Analysis and First Draft Zoning By-law
Phase 3 will be conducted in three (3) components. For each component the comments
received in Phase 2 will be assessed;the existing Zoning By-law will be reviewed as it
practices will be completed. Based on this work a first draft of a new Zoning By-law (By-
law 2015-001) will be developed for each component. It will then be presented at a
Planning Act Statutory Open House. The project is currently at this milestone for
Component A.
Phase 4 Final Draft Zoning By-law
Phase 4 includes the preparation of a final draft of Zoning By-law 2015-001 for each
component. These final drafts will consider comments received on the first drafts and
will be presented at Planning Act Statutory Public Meetings.
Figure 1 illustrates the content and timing of each Zoning By-law component.
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Figure 1: CRoZBy Zoning By-law 2015-001 Components
Component A
Content
General Scope and Administration
Interpretation, Classification and Limits of Zones
Definitions
General Provisions
Mixed Use (MIX) Zones
Employment (EMP) Zones
Natural Heritage Conservation (NHC) Zone
Existing Use Floodplain (EUF) Zone
Recreation (REC) Zone
Stormwater Management (SWM) Zone
Overlays (environmental related)
Property specific zoning related to the above-mentioned zones
TimingConsultation Requirements
Planning Act
First Draft Spring 2015Statutory Open House
Final Draft Fall 2015Statutory Public Meeting
Adoption Winter 2016
Component B
Content
Definitions
Parking Regulations
Institutional Zones
Major Infrastructure and Utility Zone
Property specific zoning related to the above-mentioned zones
Consultation Requirements
TimingPlanning Act
First Draft Fall 2015Statutory Open House
Final DraftSpring 2016Statutory Public Meeting
Adoption Fall 2016
Component C
Content
Definitions
Residential Zones
Commercial Zones
Agricultural Zone
Property specific zoning related to the above-mentioned zones
Timing
2016+(Statutory Open House and Public Meeting)
*Urban Growth Centre (UGC) Zones (including bonusing regulations) will be delivered via PARTS:
Central Plan project (expected in 2016)
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The staging of Zoning By-law 2015-001 will:
ensure that key items related to the new Official Plan are implemented in a timely
fashion;
ensure that related content (i.e. Natural Heritage Conservation Zones,
Recreation Zones, Existing Use Floodplain Zones and overlays) is considered
together;
provide adequate time to assess certain zones and regulations (i.e. parking
regulations and residential zones),
relate to other ongoing projects (PARTS, Urban Design Manual review, etc.);
make the most efficient use of staff time; and
allow for a more focussed public review process.
The staging of Zoning By-law 2015-001 is consistent with the approach used to
implement previous City Zoning By-laws.
Zoning By-law 2015-001: Component A - First Draft
Since May 2014, staff has spent a significant amount of effort conducting a process to
identify issues along with preparingand reviewing (internally) the Zoning By-law 2015-
001: Component A First Draft (First Draft). Working teams comprised of staff from the
Planning, Economic Development and Legal Services Divisions met approximately 100
times from May 2014 to February 2015. The teams reviewed existing Zoning By-law
provisions, the new Official Plan, researched best practices, considered comments
received in Phase 2 and prepared afirst draft of regulations, definitions and zones
(Component A). The existing zones and mapping for approximately 2,200 properties
were reviewed and new/updated zones recommended for each one.
A full internal review of theFirst Draft was undertaken and included Planning, Legal,
Economic Development, By-law Enforcement, Licensing, Parks, Transportation,
Development Engineering and Building staff. Over 800 internal comments were
received,analyzed and where possible, incorporated into the First Draft.
Component A - First Draft Highlights
Appendix B of this report contains the First Draft. Generally, the purpose of the First
Draft is to implement the new Official Plan and make improvements based on best
practices and strategic directions for Kitchener.The first draft includes:
amore user-friendly and shorter format than the existing By-law through the
incorporation of tables for permitted uses and regulations;
definitions for all permitted uses;
the consolidation of the three (3) existing Mixed Use Corridor
five (5) existing Commercial-Residential Mixed
Use ) zones. The new MIX zones are based on the urban structure
components of the new Official Plan (i.e. zones for nodes, corridors and PARTS
areas) and range in intensity (i.e. varying minimum and maximum heights and
floor space ratios for each zone);
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the consolidation of the existing four (4) (4)
existing Business Park zones into five (5) new Employment
The new EMP zones will implement the general industrial, heavy industrial and
business park employment land use designations of the new Official Plan and
remove any non-employment related (i.e. residential and retail) uses;
NHC
currently zoned P-2andP-3. This zone is
intended to protect and/or conserve significant natural heritage features and may
allow accessory passive outdoor recreation uses;
EUFreflect the current -
that will generally apply to lands currently zoned
--. This zone is intended to provide
opportunities for recreation through a comprehensive and connected parkland
and open space system;
A new Stormwater Management (SWM) zone that will primarily be applied to
public stormwater management facilities (and potentially some private); and
Overlays have been introduced and will work together with the underlying zones
to implement regulations related to significant wildlife habitat/landforms, flooding
hazards, slope erosion hazards and, in ecological restoration areas, and;
The assignment of zones for properties to which the above zones apply (for
lands outside of the PARTS areas and Secondary Plan areas).
Acomprehensive summary of the First Draft is contained within Appendix C. This
summary includes a comparison to the existing Zoning By-law, to know where
regulations/zones have been added, deleted or modified.
Component A - Next Steps
The second round of public and stakeholder consultation will be held from April to early
June and is further described in the Community Engagement section of this report. Staff
will consider comments received from the second round of consultation and report back
with Zoning By-law 2015-001: Component A Final Draft at a statutory public meeting
in the Fall of 2015.
Components B and C Next Steps
Internal Working Teams will continue to review material and prepare the first draft by-
laws for Component B in Fall 2015 and Component C in 2016.The residential zones
within Component C has some options under consideration; however, it requires the
completion of a Residential Intensification in Established Neighbourhoods Study (see
related report CSD-15-025) as there are inter-related issues with zoning, design
guidelines, development process and approach.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
The CRoZBy project
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FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
This multi-year project is currently within the existing project budget.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
The CRoZBy public/stakeholder engagement will utilize the primary themes of
Component A - Public and Stakeholder Consultation
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Two public presentation and drop-in sessions will be held on May 5 and 6 from 4:00-
8:00p.m. at City Hall. The purpose of these sessions is to provide highlights of the
CRoZBy process and First Draft through a staff presentation. Staff will also be available
to answer questions and receive comments. These drop-in sessions will be held in
accordance with the provisions of the Planning Act and will satisfy the requirement for a
Statutory Open House.
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A series of day long stakeholder interview sessions will also be held on May 7, 8, 13
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and 14 at City Hall. Interested stakeholders (agencies, resident associations,
development industry,planning and other consultants, Waterloo Region Homebuilders
Association members, developers and others) will be invited to meet with staff for one-
on-one sessions to ask questions and discuss comments on the First Draft
A feedback form will be provided on the CRoZBy website and at the sessions. Written
comments will be accepted until June 12, 2015 via crozby@kitchener.ca.
Component A - Communications
To notify the public about the drop-in sessions, ads will be placed in the Record and
Kitchener Post in accordance with the requirements of the Planning Act.These
sessions will also be advertised on the CRoZBy webpage and through social media.
In April letters will be sent out to all property owners within the City whose
property is affected by the First Draft (approximately 2,200 properties).
These
letters will inform property owners of the proposed change in zoning of their property,
indicate where they can obtain additional information and, inform them of the above-
mentioned public drop-in sessions.
The project webpage will be updated to include the First Draft. Site specific mapping
(i.e. Zoning Grid Schedules) will be posted in .pdf format. Site specific mapping will also
people
to search for properties by address and see the existing (Zoning By-law 85-1) and
proposed (Zoning By-law 2015-001) zoning.
CONCLUSION:
Zoning By-law 2015-001:Component A First Draft is the result of a collaborative effort
by staff from several divisions/departments with input from the public and stakeholders.
Itproposes to implement several sections of the new Official Plan and incorporates new
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zoning best practices. Staff is recommending that the Component A: First Draft be
released for formal, statutory public and stakeholder consultation.
REVIEWED BY:
Brandon Sloan, Manager, Long Range and Policy Planning
Tina Malone-Wright, Senior Planner
Janine Oosterveld, Manager, Site Development and Customer Service
Della Ross, Manager, Development Review
ACKNOWLEDGED BY:
Michael May, Deputy CAO (Community Services)
Appendix A
Comprehensive Review of the Zoning By-law (CRoZBy) Work Program
and Timeline Summary
Appendix B
Zoning By-law 2015-001: Component A First Draft (can be accessed
at www.kitchener.ca/crozby)
Appendix C
Zoning By-law 2015-001:Component A First Draft Summary of
Changes (can be accessed at www.kitchener.ca/crozby)
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Appendix B
Zoning By-law 2015-001:
Component A First Draft
Can be accessed at www.kitchener.ca/crozby
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Appendix C
Zoning By-law 2015-001:
Component A
First Draft Summary of Changes
Can be accessed at www.kitchener.ca/crozby
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