At May 16 Council there is a public meeting for the draft Nobleton Zoning By-law. (NZBL) This is significant milestone in our program to have updated zoning by-laws for the 3 villages as King City and Schomberg’s new ones will be based on the Nobleton one.  I am very pleased with a number of the policies.  Inclusion of minimum permeable area on lots.  Policies with “clearer direction for potential dwelling expansion or replacement [houses] that are compatible with neighbourhood character. ”  The core area of Nobleton will have more consistent regulations and all in keeping with the Community Plan.  As reviewed in the Staff report the goal is to present the final by-law to Council in June/July.

As reviewed in the report there is complexity with the initiative in terms of timing as we are concurrently working on the Official Plan update.  The zoning by-law under consideration is based on the current Official Plan/Community Plan; hence changes contemplated in the OP are not taken into account in the zoning by-law review; hence if NZBL is passed before the OP is updated it will be necessary to make amendments to the new NZBL.  One might wonder why we would not wait until the OP is done as it will likely be done in early 2017.  Answer is simple: its that kind of thinking which has got us to our current situation with a zoning by-law dating back to 1974!  As they say, change is the only constant.  One example of a new policy issue  to be included in our new OP  is in-law suites/secondary suites; but it is not included in the draft NZBL under consideration.

• I am very excited to see inclusions of permeable minimum requirements.  In our newer subdivisions there are such requirements; but in the older ones there is not.  Hence, there is risk of there not being adequate permeable surface; given climate change and risk of stronger storms with precipitation it is essential that we address this.
• I am very pleased to see the effort done to identify the distinct neighbourhoods.  The older subdivisions are not homogeneous; different policies on height, setbacks etc. are entirely appropriate.

Here is link to Staff report.  As indicated any feedback is requested by May 24. Also I would be very happy to post comments on my blog;  your comments might trigger thoughts for someone else.