Leslie's Blog

Zoning
You’ve likely heard of Zoning By-laws. In the US, they’re called zoning “ordinance’s”. Zoning By-laws are the teeth that give force to a municipality’s land use plans.
For most people buying a new home, Zoning holds little relevance. However, for those who are expanding their ...  [Read more]

Zoning
You’ve likely heard of Zoning By-laws. In the US, they’re called zoning “ordinance’s”. Zoning By-laws are the teeth that give force to a municipality’s land use plans.
For most people buying a new home, Zoning holds little relevance. However, for those who are expanding their home, or building a new one, Zoning is something that they likely will learn very well.
Zoning By-law’s are restrictive tools rather than permissive tools – meaning that they tend to tell you what you can’t do rather than what you can do. As their name implies, they divide land into various zones, each defined by its category of land use – residential, industrial, commercial, institutional, green spaces, or a mix of each – and sets out what specific land uses are permitted – I.e. single family homes vs. apartment, eat-in restaurants vs. take-out restaurants or drive-thru’s, etc.
Zoning influences the pattern of lots by setting their maximum size and minimum frontage. These two factors play a major role in defining the character of any particular neighbourhood. For those of you who may not have noticed it before, walk down any residential street and observe how the width and size of lot determines the neighbourhood’s nature and how it feels. Beyond this, Zoning tends to focus on regulating the shape and mass of buildings on each lot. It defines a ‘building envelope’ – a n imaginary box that buildings must be built within – by establishing minimum setbacks for all buildings from each lot line, and a maximum height. It sets out how large a building can be within the envelope by limiting its density – i.e. how many sq ft of floor area. This is usually measured as a ratio of the lot area. It limits how large the ground floor of each building may be by stating the maximum area it may cover. Among other things, Zoning also sets out other standards like how much parking, and landscaping required and where it much goes.
While Zoning is designed to accomplish many things, its fundamental goal is to ensure the compatibility of land use in a neighbourhood. Every municipality has a land use plan and policies with guide development. If you are planning an addition or a total re-use of your land, your first stop needs to be at the Zoning department of your local City Hall.

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