The city of Kitchener has been working on updating the existing zoning in the MTSAs around the downtown core. This new project is called "Growing Together" it is based off of the work the city has already done through PARTs (Planning Around Rapid Transit) as well as the NPR (Neighborhood Planning Review) that followed. The new Growing Together is based on a combination of PARTs, NPR, ROPA6 (Regional Official Plan Amendment 6) as well as new direction from the province which includes a target of 35000 new units by the end of 2031 as well as other changes to the Planning Act.
In March and April the city conducted community workshops in order to get citizen input on the project, these included events at the Market as well as at community centers. Citizens could put different plastic models of buildings down on a map to indicate the type of density they would like for specific areas as well as different heights. The following presentation was shown at these workshops. Presentation
The city compiled the locations and densities and did basic analysis on all of the individual workshops and all of them collectively, this included a event that was solely made up of city councilors. What was found is that most people are wanting growth to occur in the UGC (urban growth center) which is made up of Central, Victoria Park, City Hall, Queen, and Frederick Stations. Stations outside of the UGC such as Grand River Hospital, Kitchener Market, Borden and Mill all were not hitting the desired densities that are outline by the province and region for MTSAs. This desired density is 160 residents and jobs per hectare. The document can be found here. Results
This document contains all of the computer models that were developed from the workshops, the computer models also include existing proposals to the city, notably 50 Borden Ave as well as 417 King St W are missing as these were yet to be formally submitted. Models
Staff have now used this data to make a draft update to the current zoning throughout the MTSA core. This draft plan abolishes all existing residential/commercial/industrial zoning (including the restrictive zoning for single family homes) and proposes 4 new levels of zoning. What is common throughout all of these zones is no vehicular parking minimums, no maximum FSR, it will limit built form through set backs, step backs, as well as building length and height.
The first level is SGA-1 (Strategic Growth Area-1) which is where low rise and typical missing middle would be found, this is limited to low rise height, based upon the pictures in the document roughly 4 floors in height.
The second level is SGA-2 which is mid rise, this is limited to mid rise height, based upon the document building such as Barra on Queen, Market Flats and 387 King would fall in this zone.
The third is SGA-3 which would be high rise restricted, based upon the documents about 20 floors would be the cut off as building such as 1 Vic and The Bright Building are within this zone
Finally there is the SGA-4 zone which would be normal high rise where there is no restrictions in the height of buildings, so buildings such as 50 Borden and 417 King St W would fall into it.
These zones are fairly evenly dispersed within the MTSAs as 24% of land is SGA-1, 25% is SGA-2, 22% is SGA-3 and 29% is SGA-4. These seems to mean that there will be a lot less ZBA/OPA applications for height as well as less parking. The document can be found here. Draft Approach
This is the Draft Zoning Map for the MTSAs, it can also be found on page 22 of the draft plan.
The next step in the process is to go to council with the final approach where it will either be discussed/changed/approved. It does not say when this is expected to occur.
In March and April the city conducted community workshops in order to get citizen input on the project, these included events at the Market as well as at community centers. Citizens could put different plastic models of buildings down on a map to indicate the type of density they would like for specific areas as well as different heights. The following presentation was shown at these workshops. Presentation
The city compiled the locations and densities and did basic analysis on all of the individual workshops and all of them collectively, this included a event that was solely made up of city councilors. What was found is that most people are wanting growth to occur in the UGC (urban growth center) which is made up of Central, Victoria Park, City Hall, Queen, and Frederick Stations. Stations outside of the UGC such as Grand River Hospital, Kitchener Market, Borden and Mill all were not hitting the desired densities that are outline by the province and region for MTSAs. This desired density is 160 residents and jobs per hectare. The document can be found here. Results
This document contains all of the computer models that were developed from the workshops, the computer models also include existing proposals to the city, notably 50 Borden Ave as well as 417 King St W are missing as these were yet to be formally submitted. Models
Staff have now used this data to make a draft update to the current zoning throughout the MTSA core. This draft plan abolishes all existing residential/commercial/industrial zoning (including the restrictive zoning for single family homes) and proposes 4 new levels of zoning. What is common throughout all of these zones is no vehicular parking minimums, no maximum FSR, it will limit built form through set backs, step backs, as well as building length and height.
The first level is SGA-1 (Strategic Growth Area-1) which is where low rise and typical missing middle would be found, this is limited to low rise height, based upon the pictures in the document roughly 4 floors in height.
The second level is SGA-2 which is mid rise, this is limited to mid rise height, based upon the document building such as Barra on Queen, Market Flats and 387 King would fall in this zone.
The third is SGA-3 which would be high rise restricted, based upon the documents about 20 floors would be the cut off as building such as 1 Vic and The Bright Building are within this zone
Finally there is the SGA-4 zone which would be normal high rise where there is no restrictions in the height of buildings, so buildings such as 50 Borden and 417 King St W would fall into it.
These zones are fairly evenly dispersed within the MTSAs as 24% of land is SGA-1, 25% is SGA-2, 22% is SGA-3 and 29% is SGA-4. These seems to mean that there will be a lot less ZBA/OPA applications for height as well as less parking. The document can be found here. Draft Approach
This is the Draft Zoning Map for the MTSAs, it can also be found on page 22 of the draft plan.
The next step in the process is to go to council with the final approach where it will either be discussed/changed/approved. It does not say when this is expected to occur.
