by Astra Burka, OAA
Finally after 8 years, hours of work, lots of staff, consultants and money, the harmonized zoning bylaw is here. We need a demo reel or a course to understand it, but alas the city forgot to do this.
Instead of taking the opportunity to create a new and simplified approach on how we create our city form, the amalgamated zoning has become a convoluted monster document that experts have to be hired to decipher it.
Rumour has it, that the preliminary planning review report on a submitted “structure” reads like a novel and is so elaborate that planners, lawyers and experts cannot even understand it. What about the design community? And what about the ordinary citizen who wants to add a porch or deck to their house? It now takes 6 months, instead of the 1 to 3 months for a Committee of Adjustment approval.
How did we get here?
