Joe Nethery - Oakville on the Future of Zoning (CIP Vancouver 2013)

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Oakville’s Zoning By-Law

What I Think Oakvile can Offer

to the Future of Zoning

Joe Nethery, Manager – Zoning By-law Project

Town of Oakville, Planning Services Department

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Presentation Overview

About the Project

• What are we doing? – The inZone Project

Consultation and Outreach

• The “Typical” events

• On-demand consultation and information

Content Challenges

• Zoning for compatibility, zoning for change

• Satisfying competing demands

• Finding the right home for regulations

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This is

Oakville

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• Replacing current 1984 Zoning By-law with a new one

• “Usual” range of issues associated with age

• Target date for approval by Council is early 2014

Current Project

What are we doing?

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• Newspaper notice

• Front page promotion on Town website

• Electronic panel display in community

centres

• Project email list

• Twitter promotion

• 11 events over 8 nights

• Drop-in format, staff presentation

56 total attendees

Traditional Consultation: Open Houses

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• “All About Zoning” workshop

– 14 workshops (as of June 30, 2013)

– 160 total attendees

– Average of 12 attendees per event

• One-on-one stakeholder and citizen meeting

days

– Four days set during July/August 2013

– Have five consultants waiting on these times

– [Plus 4 meetings already with major

landowners]

On-demand Consultation

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http://www.towntv.ca/all-about-zoning.htm

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Online Display

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• A municipality should plan on a housekeeping

amendment within 6 months of adopting a new

zoning by-law

Remaining Relevant

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Content Challenges

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Zoning for Compatibility: -0 Suffix Zone

11.1.9 Development within all stable residential

communities shall be evaluated using the

following criteria to maintain and protect

the existing neighbourhood character: • Built form … to be compatible with the surrounding neighbourhood.

– Setbacks

– Building orientation

– Separation distances within the surrounding neighbourhood

– Gradation of height between housing forms, land use designations

– Lot patterns

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Reduced lot coverage maximums

• Recommend converting Floor Area/Lot Ratio

maximums to lot coverage – One storey = stays the same

– More than one storey = reduced lot coverage

Revised front yard averaging framework

• Each zone has a base metric standard

• Where the -0 Suffix applies, the minimum front

yard becomes “the average of the front yards of

the nearest two adjacent detached dwellings”

The Proposed -0 Suffix Zone

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• Long sought by some owners, resident associations

– One appeal a month of our minor approvals by residents

associations

– Not strong enough for some

• Concerns from some owners, building industry

– Rationale for changed calculation metric and resultant built

forms

• Testing our compatibility clauses in Official Plan

– “Liveable” in the newspaper once a week

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Expanded Use Permissions

• Prohibit residential on portion of first storey

• Harmonized retail and service commercial

permissions

Expanded Building Envelopes

• New minimums, taller maximums

• Tiering of upper storeys (increased yards)

The Proposed Mixed Use Zones

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Zoning for Change: Growth Areas

• Strong policy pressure (“direction”) from upper-tier

government

– Regional policy direction to “prezone” these areas

– Local concerns about infrastructure

• Political sensitivity

– Parking supply

– “Incompatibility” of some uses with residential uses

– “Incongruency” of political asks and policy direction

– Where does the “transition” of height occur?

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Zoning for Change: Companion Projects

• Competing internal staff demands – and other projects

Licensing

By-law

Review

Environmental

Strategic Plan

Downtown

Heritage

Conservation

District

Sign By-law

Review

Urban Forest

Strategic

Management Plan

Internal

Process

Reviews

Midtown

Oakville Study

(Feedback from

development review)

South Central

Public Lands

Study

“Switching

Gears” –

Transportation

Master Plan

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• Demand exists for a zoning conversation

• Demand is growing for zoning addressing

neighbourhood-based issues

• There will be fewer, but clearer regulations (perhaps

offset by other approvals or regulatory routes)

• It may not be a zoning solution: other avenues for

implementation

• Need to factor regulatory review into policy review

regimen

Conclusions from the Present

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As “informed facilitators”

planners will need to be able to

communicate implementation

Zoning is just one of many tools

Dispatch from the Future of Zoning

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Thank You General Inquiry:

inZone Project Team

[email protected]

Project Manager:

Joe Nethery

Manager, Zoning By-law Project

[email protected]

http://www.oakville.ca/townhall/zoning-by-law-review-inzone.html

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Real Estate

Joe Nethery - Oakville on the Future of Zoning (CIP Vancouver 2013)