Refer Zoning Amendments Green Building Regulations
Motion 22 · Council Meeting, January 17, 2023
Summary
- Staff propose amendments to the Zoning and Development By-law to remove green building energy intensity and carbon emission limits from the C-2, C-2B, C-2C, and C-2C1 district schedules, as these requirements are being superseded by updated Building By-law carbon limits approved by Council in May 2022, which take effect July 1, 2023.
- Consequential amendments are also proposed to the Secured Rental Policy and the C-2/C-2B/C-2C/C-2C1 Guidelines for Residential Rental Tenure Buildings to remove the now-redundant energy and carbon provisions from those documents as well.
- The intent is to streamline the development permit process by consolidating green building requirements into a single regulatory instrument — the Building By-law — rather than maintaining overlapping and potentially conflicting standards across multiple policy documents.
- Staff note that while the Building By-law energy intensity limits are slightly less stringent than those currently in the district schedules, the difference is not considered sufficient to justify maintaining separate regulations.
- The changes are intended to advance the City's Climate Emergency Action Plan goals while reducing regulatory burden for applicants, and the City Manager recommends approval.
- The matter is recommended for referral to a Public Hearing, with proposed amendments to come into force on March 15, 2023 if approved.