Kitchener studying new planning rules for
intensification in established neighbourhoods
intensification in established neighbourhoods
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By Carrie DebroneKitchener Citizen
November 4, 2016
If you live in an established, older neighbourhood where the houses all look similar and your neighbour attempted to redevelop the lots beside yours as a modern high rise, how would you respond? Do you know what kind of development would be allowed under current city planning rules?
As Kitchener continues to grow, new housing is needed and the city wants to intensify inner-city neighbourhoods to help prevent development spread into green areas or surrounding farmland. While some intensification has already happened, it is expected that the rate will increase as the city’s population and demand for alternative forms of housing increases.
Improved transit services, changing demographics, additional employment available in Kitchener, and the location of Kitchener itself will make intensification more attractive to prospective developers.
The rate of redevelopment inside the city’s established neighbourhoods is expected to increase. But how should this be done?
It is a question that Kitchener councillors are considering. Often a problem brought to Ontario Municipal Board hearings, many Ontario municipalities have developed planning strategies in an effort to ensure redevelopment is compatible with existing housing and that the character of each neighbourhood is maintained with any new development.
Focusing on the central and Vanier neighbourhoods in Kitchener, in December 2015 the City of Kitchener hired a consultant to complete a study of residential
intensification in Kitchener’s established neighbour-
hoods. The study is reviewing the current planning
process for new development in older neighbour-
hoods to provide information that will help councillors
determine if changes are needed. The purpose of the Residential Intensification in Established Neighbourhoods Study (RIENS) is to develop a clear and fair process for approving redevelopment in these neighbourhoods.
The study found that in Kitchener’s central neighbourhoods there are 101 vacant parcels of land suitable for building, and 10 such parcels in the Vanier area.
“Some areas in the city are unique and they deserve a second look in planning,” said planning consultant Nick McDonald, adding that good planning must “achieve a balance between the protection of neighbourhoods and allowing some changes for infilling of lots."
Currently Kitchener’s planning rules promote intensification. City planning documents direct redevelopment to take place primarily, but not exclusively, in the downtown area of Kitchener along main corridors and in other growth areas that are served by transit. While new development is often expected in these areas, it is not often thought about in established areas of the city.
The new study is looking at zoning rules, setback rules, lot size rules, expanding site plan control to singles, semi-detached and/or duplexes, Official Plan policies, if the city should conduct a Cultural Heritage Landscape Study in some areas, establishing a development permit system, and creating a guide for infill development. It is also looking at land use compatibility and how a development should interface with others around it.
Several stakeholder and public meetings were held in March and April of this year, and in June, a public workshop was held at Victoria Park Pavilion to ask residents for feedback on what they see as the top priorities to make new development compatible with a neighbourhood.
In early October, a bus tour was arranged to allow residents a look at the neighbourhoods being studied and to hear how new development might affect them. A second public workshop on the study was held October 27 at Rockway Golf Course and an online survey was conducted.
Draft recommendations from the study will be presented for feedback before they are put forward to council early in 2017.
The date for the final public meeting has not yet been finalized. For more information on the study visit www.kitchener.ca and search RIENS.
Nick McDonald, President of Meridian Planning hired to conduct a study into intensification in Kitchener’s established neighbourhoods, explains some of the zoning rules to people on a bus tour. The tour was organized to allow residents to see the areas the city is considering and the planning concerns the study is addressing.