Weekly newsletter: June 11, 2024
Hi everyone!
Road resurfacing on Woodroffe between Longfields and Claridge-Stoneway begins this week. Lane reductions may be required but will be restricted to off-peak hours.
The work is expected to take about two weeks, after which crews will move north to resurface Woodroffe between Fallowfield and the railway tracks.
This week, I’m taking you all on a deep dive through the first draft of the proposed Zoning By-law and how it affects Barrhaven.
TL;DR (too long; didn’t read)
To sum up the novel below into a few bullet points:
First draft of the proposed Zoning By-law now available for browsing
Mostly affects Barrhaven in developing areas
Many public engagement opportunities, beginning with a virtual public information session on June 20, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm, register here
Community consultation sessions in the summer or early-autumn, to be announced
The proposed zoning by-law
The first draft of the proposed Zoning By-law was released publicly at the end of May.
The proposed Zoning By-law will guide growth and development in the City of Ottawa up to the year 2046 and will be critical in facilitating growth that aligns with intensification goals as outlined in the City’s Official Plan, adopted by Council in 2021 and approved by the provincial government in 2022.
In early-2021, during the process to develop the current Official Plan, Council approved the workplan for staff to develop a new Zoning By-law to complement and support the Official Plan, then still under development.
A city’s Official Plan outlines a land use policy framework to guide growth and development, including policies for housing, employment, infrastructure, protections for water, natural, and agricultural resources, and public health and safety.
The City of Ottawa’s Official Plan was adopted by Council in 2021 and approved by the provincial government with amendments in November 2022, shortly before the current term of Council began and amongst a flurry of other planning legislation changes.
A zoning by-law is the complementary tool which implements a municipality’s official plan policies and objectives as a legal and precise way of managing land use and future development.
About zoning by-laws
A zoning by-law controls the use of land, stating exactly how land may be used, where buildings and structures can be located, permitted building types and uses, and details like dimensions, parking requirements, density, and setbacks from the street. A zoning by-law also protects residents from conflicting, possibly dangerous, land uses.
When city councils across Ontario consider a zoning by-law, they must be consistent with provincial policies issued under the Planning Act, which are policy directions on matters of provincial interest in land use planning and development.
Zoning by-laws are evaluated for their conformity with a municipality’s official plan. In Ontario, municipalities are required to update its zoning by-law no less than three years following the approval of an official plan update.
The City of Ottawa’s new Official Plan was approved in 2022. The proposed Zoning By-law is currently in its draft and public consultation phase and is scheduled to reach Council for final discussions, amendments, and a vote late in 2025.
The previous Official Plan was adopted in 2003, with the corresponding Zoning By-law adopted in 2008. The 2008 Zoning By-law remains in force until the proposed by-law is passed.
Upon its adoption, the new Zoning By-law will be complementary to the new Official Plan and serve as a tool to implement its policy directions.
That means since the Official Plan’s approval in 2022 and until the proposed Zoning By-law’s adoption, expected in 2025, the two policies will not be fully complementary. The result has been an increase in requests for Zoning By-law amendments by developers for proposals conforming to the Official Plan, but not the Zoning By-law.
In theory, Zoning By-law amendment applications will decrease, as development proposals conforming to the Official Plan can proceed directly to the site plan and building process without the need for Council to approve a Zoning By-law amendment. However, developers will still have the option to seek amendments to fit their proposals.
What’s changing?
How residential, commercial, and mixed-use areas are zoned and categorised comprises the bulk of the changes between the current and proposed Zoning by-laws.
The proposed Zoning By-law also contains many updates to administration, definitions, and how some uses are classified (eg. park space versus recreational space).
Institutional, industrial, and rural provisions remain largely unchanged between the two versions, save for some wording.
Existing uses and permissions will be carried forward.
Residential
Currently, residential zoning is made of five primary zones, R1 through R5, within which are almost 150 distinct subzones, each with distinct regulations based on the proposed dwelling type. That complex framework has become increasingly challenging to implement, considering all that is superseded by area-specific regulations in some parts of the City.
To simplify that, residential zoning will be replaced with neighbourhood zones, which will also shift the focus away from regulation based on type of dwelling to regulation based on density (units per hectare) and height.
The proposal has six primary neighbourhood zones, N1 through N6, which regulate maximum heights and densities. N1, N2, and N3 zones have maximum densities and heights, while N4 and N5 zones rely on maximum height only. The N6 zone is defined by area-specific maximum heights.
Six subzones, A through F, will generally address neighbourhood character, with A being the most urban, and F being the most suburban. They also include provisions for lot dimensions and setbacks, with an intent to ensure new developments are similar to existing buildings in the area.
Primary zones and subzones will be accompanied by standards regulating permitted built form and function of residential buildings as determined by the Official Plan, such as general exterior design, waste management, tree planting/retention, and others.
All neighbourhood zones will permit a minimum of four dwelling units per lot. Though the provincial Planning Act, through Bill 23, requires municipalities to permit at least three units per lot, Ottawa’s choice of four per lot increases opportunities for additional funding towards subsidised housing. The four-unit minimum does not apply to areas not serviced by municipal water and sewer.
Area-specific overlays will be replaced with area-specific zoning, known as special district zones, which are located downtown, at Lansdowne, near the airport, and in Kanata North. Special district zones have provisions unique to that area, such as distinct heritage rules or additional economical uses.
A variety of tools will also be available in neighbourhood zoning to ensure residents can access day-to-day necessities within their own neighbourhood. These include additional provisions for home-based businesses and zoning suffixes permitting corner stores, cafés, and other ground-floor commercial uses.
Commercial and mixed-use
Commercial-only zones were eliminated upon the adoption of the current Zoning By-law in 2008 and were replaced with mixed-use and local commercial zoning. Both types have permitted commercial and residential uses.
To further the intent of the Official Plan, mixed-use and local commercial zoning will be replaced fully with hub and corridor zoning. The highest intensity mixed-use policies per the Official Plan are reserved for these zones.
Those zones replace almost 100 zones and subzones in the current Zoning By-law. Like existing residential zoning, the almost 100 zones and subzones for commercial and mixed-use are also subject to area-specific prescriptive regulations in secondary plans.
Three hub zones (H1, H2, and H3) will replace what are now 55 zones and subzones, mostly downtown, local centres, transit-oriented development areas, and local commercial areas. These are typically concentrated in centralised areas of communities, like Strandherd/Greenbank, Baseline/Woodroffe.
Main street corridor zones, MS1 and MS2, are the successors to 28 existing zones and subzones. Focusing on corridors in the city like Merivale Road and Carling Avenue, these areas have default height requirements corresponding to policies in the Official Plan.
The MS1 zone is generally intended for areas of the city with more compact lots, while MS2 is intended for areas of the city with larger lots and wider streets.
Minor corridor zoning (CM1 through CM4) is being introduced and will apply to the 78 streets designed as minor corridors in the Official Plan. CM zoning encourages lower height compact, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented development along those streets. Unlike H and MS zoning, CM zones are determined based on their location in the city, with CM4 applying to Barrhaven.
Lastly, neighbourhood mixed-use zones (NMU1 through NMU3) will replace 18 zones and subzones currently used for smaller commercial areas, like local strip plazas. Which NMU zone is applied is dependent on existing uses.
It’s generally expected there will not be a need to establish additional subzones within the H, MS, CM, and NMU zones. Local height provisions may be necessary in some locations, to be indicated by a suffix as is current practice.
Hub and corridor zoning will also include height transition provisions. In some cases, corridor designation may extend to apply to the first few lots fronting on a side street just past the main street.
What it means for Barrhaven
By virtue of the age of local development, most of Barrhaven will be unaffected by the proposed Zoning By-law.
New developments after the adoption of the proposed Zoning By-law will be subject to the new zoning rules.
That means as Barrhaven continues to age and properties get closer to an age where they are ready for redevelopment, residents may begin to see similar styles of infill happening in Hintonburg and Westboro.
It should be noted the oldest homes on serviced lots in Barrhaven (along Larkin Drive in Barrhaven West) will not reach the age of homes being redeveloped in those other communities for at least 50 years.
The new designations in the proposed Zoning By-law permitting more density will likely present first in areas under development at/near the Barrhaven town centre and by Longfields Transitway station in the next five to 10 years.
I imagine larger strip malls will follow in the medium term, while it’s entirely possible the new neighbourhood zoning provisions won’t affect existing residential in Barrhaven at all through the life of the proposed Zoning By-law (until 2046).
Barrhaven East’s zoning
Most of Barrhaven East zoned residential will become neighbourhood zones ranging from N1 to N4, which cover the detached, semis, townhomes, and stacked townhomes found across much of the community.
The provision which permits the installation of walkways up to 1.8 metres in width along an entire driveway, including permission to park on such a walkway for properties completed before 2014, will be carried forward.
Two developments currently zoned R5, the apartments on Stonefield Private and those by Strandherd Station, will become zoned N5 (subzone unknown for now). The vacant lot at Via Verona/Longfields will also be zoned N5. An N5 zone permits mid-rise buildings five to nine storeys in height.
Most strip plazas and malls in Barrhaven East plus all of Chapman Mills Drive will become a minor corridor zone, with building heights to a maximum of four to nine storeys.
Lastly, hub zones will be introduced to the area under development by Longfields Station as well as the land between Greenbank and the Transitway near Strandherd Station.
Most of the ward will remain under the airport overlay, which mostly relates to process during the development process and some restrictions to reduce the impact of aircraft noise on residents and businesses, including restrictions on certain types of development closer to the airport.
Hearts Desire and Rideau Glen will generally not be subject to the density provisions of the proposed Zoning By-law, as they are unserviced neighbourhoods, though their official zoning designation will change from R1 to N1 (plus subzone).
There are no zoning changes to the South Merivale Business Park or land currently zoned for parks, institutional uses, and conservation areas.
An interactive map based on the first draft is available online with a neat map slider tool that shows current zoning versus what’s proposed!
Next steps and engagement opportunities
As mentioned at the beginning, this is all just a first draft. Given its wide-ranging impacts on development in the city, several opportunities for public consultation have been built into the process.
Public engagement begins with a citywide virtual information session on June 20, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Residents interested may register to participate here.
In the late-summer and early-autumn, consultations more targeted at different areas of the city will also take place. It’s likely the two Barrhaven wards will share one consultation session, but I will also share consultations for nearby communities like Manotick and Riverside South, since they may have an impact on our community.
All consultation and survey opportunities will be communicated by newsletter and through social media by local Councillors and city staff.
Following that, a second draft of the proposed Zoning By-law will be shared with Council early in 2025, followed by another round of consultation.
The final draft will be presented to Council in late-2025 for discussion, amendments, and a vote. Upon approval, the new Zoning By-law replaces the current version in its entirety.
References
EngageOttawa – centralised portal with resources and documents about the proposed Zoning By-law (City staff refer to it as the “new” Zoning By-law, but it hasn’t been adopted)
First draft of the proposed Zoning By-law
A more detailed look at neighbourhood zoning
Provincial webpage about municipal zoning by-laws