Province conditionally approves Regina’s new zoning bylaw

Regina’s new zoning bylaw has been conditionally approved by the province, pending some amendments.

The Ministry of Government Relations has asked that any sign regulations related to land be added to the new zoning bylaw rather than being its own separate one. Originally, when the new zoning bylaw was created, it removed all sign regulations to form the Regina Sign Bylaw 2019.

The city plans to amendment both the zoning bylaw and the sign bylaw at its Dec. 16 council meeting.

“(Council) will propose copying all applicable sign regulations from the Sign Bylaw to the Zoning Bylaw as a new chapter. Further, Administration will propose that sidewalk sign regulations be returned to the Regina Clean Property Bylaw No. 9881 and that Regina Sign Bylaw, 2019 be repealed,” the city wrote in a news release Friday.

Boundaries known as “floodway fringe” must also be reinserted into the maps portion of the zoning bylaw withing six months of the province’s approval.

Should council give the green light to these amendments, the new zoning bylaw will go into effect Dec. 21 and will apply to all future developments. All applications submitted before Dec. 21 will be reviewed under provisions of the current Zoning Bylaw No. 9250.

The new zoning bylaw comes after months of consultation with residents and stakeholders within the development industry and business community. Between January and March, the city held Zoning 101 sessions in which more than 300 people attended to voice their opinion. The city also said it received several thousand comments online through its website.