The City of Windsor's Development and Heritage standing committee will be asked to approve a report dealing with housekeeping bylaw amendments that would allow for additional dwelling units city wide.
The changes are related to provincial standards, after the passing of Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act back in the fall.
A landowner is permitted to have up to three residential units on a parcel of urban residential land permitting a single detached dwelling, semi-detached dwelling or street townhouse dwelling, one of which may be in an associated accessory building.
The legislative framework provides more opportunities for individual parcels to create the third residential unit within the primary building or within the detached accessory structure.
The City’s Official Plan was updated to introduce additional dwelling units, in compliance with Planning Act requirements.
It contains a number of objectives and policies that encourage a range of housing forms and tenures within neighbourhoods, selective infill and intensification of residential areas, and affordable housing options.
Ward 9 councillor and committee vice-chair Kieran McKenzie says overall he's supportive of adding more ADUs into the community, but he has some questions with regards to what's being proposed.
He says this initiative was well underway before the current provincial government came to power, but is glad to see it moving forward because it will mean more options for people looking for a place to live.
"Specifically how the ADUs are supposed to be implemented in the neighbourhoods where they're going to go in, the different rules that are going to be either relaxed or maintained through that process. And what we've done now with this legislation and the bylaw amendments that are going to be considered is we've aligned our official plan and our bylaws with the now existing provincial legislation," he said.
McKenzie says we're already seeing people building all types of different types of dwelling units in Windsor, whether they're within existing structures or new buildings on existing properties.
He says what's happening here is there's less need for some scrutiny to get more units built.
"And also a relaxation of the some of the provisions. For example around unit size, the height of different units, availability on the private site parking, so the amount of parking spaces on the property are being reduced as well. Again all through the provincial legislation, but now we're putting them into our bylaw framework."
McKenzie says if these housekeeping amendments are approved it will speed things up and take away some of the administrative burdens that are somewhat redundant or no longer necessary due to the provincial legislation.
"So overall things I think will move faster through the planning and building department as a result of these bylaw amendments, these housekeeping amendments, going forward," he continued. "And it will make it easier for land owners to also go through the process as well."
McKenzie recognizes that there's no silver bullet for addressing the housing crisis in the community, but ADUs are another tool that's out there to allow them to provide more units.
He believes there could be a lot of social and economic benefits that are associated with ADUs, from allowing people to age in place to creating new income opportunities for home and building owners.
Should the committee members approve moving the report along, it would then come back to a regular council meeting for full approval.
The Development & Heritage Standing Committee gets underway at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.