Council considered the Zoning By-law Housekeeping Amendment following a Public Meeting on Monday, March 18, 2024. Council amended the proposed By-law on the floor that night, and the By-law, as amended, was approved unanimously by Council.

The Housekeeping Zoning By-law, as amended by Council on March 18, 2024, was passed on Monday, April 8, 2024.

Notice of the Passage of the By-law was issued in accordance with Section 34 (18) of the Planning Act on April 12, 2024, and the final date for appeals is May 2, 2024.

Please note, that while the by-law has been passed, it is not deemed to have come into force until the appeal period has expired with no appeals filed (S.34(21) of the Planning Act).

Further notice will be issued following the expiration of the appeal period to confirm receipt of any appeals and the status of the by-law.

The key elements of the Amendment include:

• Permissions for two additional residential units (accessory dwelling units) with detached, semi-detached, or townhouse dwellings, including size, height, setbacks, and parking. This includes updated standards for detached accessory dwelling units.
• Permissions for duplex, triplex and fourplex dwellings within the Low Density – Suburban Neighbourhood (R1) Zone and elimination of quadruplex dwellings from all zones, as the term is redundant and synonymous with the existing definition of townhouse dwelling.
• Updating definitions for lot lines, yards, and encroachments, such as decks, patios, and porches (platform structures).
• Revising parking space dimensions, bicycle and accessible parking requirements and introducing parking area requirements, such as minimum drive aisle widths.
• Definitions relating to landscaped open space and landscape buffers and inclusion of maximum hard landscaping coverage.
• Inclusion of a transition clause, updated page numbers, revised section numbers, and other various formatting elements.

The amendments can be reviewed using the important documents section to the right

Informational Videos

A series of informational videos that provide an overview of the proposed amendments for various categories are below:

Introduction

Parking

Lots, Yards and Encroachments

Landscaping

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)

Additional Clarifications

Open Houses

On Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, and Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, the City hosted two drop-in style open houses, with materials available for review and staff present to receive comments and answer questions.

Public Meeting

City Council hosted a Legislated Public Meeting on March 18, 2024:

Questions and Appeal Rights

For more information about this matter, including information about appeal rights, contact Taya Devlin, Planning and Building Services Department at 905.688.5601, ext. 1709, via email at tdevlin@stcatharines.ca or the City’s TTY number (text telephone) at 905.688.4TTY (4889).