No. A zoning change does not require a property owner to build anything. It simply gives them the legal right to develop or use the property/building in accordance with the new zoning, if they choose.

This is a City-initiated process, undertaken as part of the City’s Housing Accelerator Fund work. The City received funding from the Federal Government as part of the Housing Accelerator Fund to accelerate the construction of new housing (including new affordable housing), create greater certainty in the development approvals and building permit processes and to streamline various planning processes.

Correspondence was sent to each landowner in advance of Z-26-09 being brought to Council on June 22 for the Informal Public Meeting.

The key criteria used was the size of the property and the current zoning. The sites selected for inclusion are zoned residential R1, R4 or R9 and range from 0.87 acres to 5.82 acres in size.

No. This zone change application (Z-26-09) may provide the opportunity for property owners to pursue these uses, but there is no specific initiative to encourage it.

City staff are assessing the properties against a broad set of metrics to determine the appropriateness of expanding permitted land uses. This includes parcel size, surrounding land uses, access to transit, proximity to schools and other community amenities, the transportation and infrastructure network. A draft of the zoning bylaw amendment, as well as the full assessment will be available for review prior to the formal public meeting. It will be available in the packet for the Council meeting, as well as posted on Engage Waterloo.

An official plan amendment is not proposed with this project. The low-rise residential designation in the official plan already permits stacked townhouse dwellings and low-rise apartments.

The date of the formal public meeting has yet to be determined. As per the Planning Act and the City’s Official Plan, all landowners within 120 metres of each property will be notified of the formal public meeting via a letter in the mail. The meeting information and the staff report that is presented to Council will also be posted on this Engage page and subscribers to the project page will be notified. Click Follow at the top of the project page to be notified.

Residents are not able to appeal the decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal. Only the applicant and /or registered owner, a specified person such as utility providers, or a public body such as a municipality, a local board, a hospital, a ministry, department, board, commission, agency or official of a provincial or federal government or Indigenous communities who, before the by-law was passed, made oral submissions at a public meeting or written submissions to the council, may appeal a decision on a zone change application.

The RMU-20 zoning permits an apartment building, a mixed-use building, a townhouse building, a stacked townhouse building, a triplex building, a long term care facility and an assisted living facility with certain ancillary uses permitted on the ground floor of an apartment building or mixed-use building. At this point, no new unit count has been completed.

If a future development plan complies with all zoning regulations, there will be no further public processes for that development. However, it is common for developments to require further amendments/variances to the zoning regulations due to the unique characteristics of the property which will include opportunity for public input. If amendments/variances are proposed, notices will be provided to nearby property owners.

Landowners may also elect to not undertake any new development.

The zone change application was presented at the Informal Public Meeting (a City Council meeting) on June 22. The purpose of the informal public meeting was to introduce the proposed amendment to Council and the public, and to obtain the preliminary comments of those affected by the proposed amendment.

In advance of the June 22^nd meeting, landowners within 120 metres of each property were sent a notice in the mail. Information was also posted here on the project webpage (“Engage Waterloo”). Public consultation on the amendment will continue throughout the summer.

Places of worship are privately owned and have the same property rights and obligations as other landowners.

The City of Waterloo must follow the notice, public meeting, and decision-making requirements of the Planning Act.

Community climate work is largely governed by the regional community mitigation plan “TransformWR” and is supported by various other city plans and policies. This proposed zoning by-law amendment reflects Strategy 1.5 of TransformWR: Build compact urban and settlement areas that are efficient for energy, services, infrastructure, and transportation, and make existing and new communities “complete communities”. Complete communities are a neighbourhood-scale area or large site that contains an appropriate mix of employment, local services, and other uses including a range of housing types, shops, personal services, green spaces, schools, recreation, open spaces, and other amenities and community uses/infrastructure, within close proximity to each other such that residents can meet their daily or weekly needs within a reasonably short distance.