City committee recommends revised timeline for developing a new zoning by-law for Ottawa

By CityNews Ottawa

The City of Ottawa's planning and housing committee recommended the approval of a revised timeframe for developing a new zoning by-law for Ottawa.

Under the revised timelines, staff would deliver the final draft of the new by-law to council six months later than initially planned – in Q4 of 2025 instead of Q2 that year. The first and second drafts would also be delayed by six months, with plans for release in Q1 2024 and Q1 2025. The public would have significant opportunities to provide input for each draft.

The additional time is needed because the provincial government took longer than anticipated to approve the City’s new Official Plan, which came into effect on Nov. 4, 2022. The revised timeline would ensure the City complies with legislated requirements to enact new zoning provisions within three years of that date.

In approving the new Official Plan, the province also revised it. The proposed workplan would give staff time to review the work done to date on the new zoning by-law to make sure it is consistent with the revised Official Plan, that new zoning provisions do not inadvertently eliminate existing development rights and that zoning remains sensitive to neighbourhood context.

The adjusted timeline would also give staff time to consider complexities introduced through Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act and the Act’s potential impacts on the new zoning by-law.

The agriculture and rural affairs committee will consider this topic on Thursday, Feb. 24 before it rises to council on Wednesday, March 8.

 

 

 

 

 

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