Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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The future look of Regina could be a lot different if a new proposed zoning bylaw passes.
The new bylaw makes changes to simplify and streamline the rules for building in Regina, according to Diana Hawryluk, the executive director of city planning and community development.
People in the city wouldn’t see many big changes right away with the new bylaw, Hawryluk said it’s mostly geared toward new development and providing more flexibility.
Some of the biggest changes in the bylaw are where the city has consolidated zones, land uses, and revised bylaw structures. The city went from 188 zones to 43 – many of those being duplications that were removed.
Hawryluk said this will make it easier for homeowners and developers to look things up for their zones instead of having to flip through pages and pages of regulations.
Some of the more specific changes in the proposed bylaw are regulations on vehicle parking – including a minimum of one required parking stalls per dwelling in all residential areas, and a requirement to provide bicycle parking stalls for apartments and non-dwelling uses.
Changes also have to do with what kinds of buildings can go in which zones. The city is looking to encourage more mixed use areas for residential and commercial to support the development of “complete neighbourhoods”.
The bylaw is also meant to encourage rear lane access to homes.
“We all have those streets that we like to walk down, that we enjoy, and we want to really spread that across the city. We want everyone to have a street in their neighbourhood that has great pedestrian experience and limits the interactions between pedestrians and vehicles with curb cuts in front of every residential property,” explained Lauren Miller, manager of city projects.
More details on the changes in the new bylaw can be found on the city’s website (https://www.regina.ca/residents/city-planning/zoning-bylaw-information/proposed-new-zoning-bylaw/?)
The new bylaws will only apply to new builds and won’t be applied retroactively to currently standing buildings.
The city is asking for the public’s input on the proposed bylaw. It’s accepting submissions online(https://www.regina.ca/residents/city-planning/zoning-bylaw-information/proposed-new-zoning-bylaw/?), through email, through the mail, and at sessions which will be held across the city with city councilors in attendance.
The bylaw, with public input taken into account, will be brought to city council in June and, depending on how many changes need to be made, could be in effect as early as this summer.
