Councillors spar over parking and density as zoning debate flares up

City councillors split down the middle over minimum parking rules but united behind a move that could further raise building heights, as Ottawa's new zoning bylaw came up for debate Wednesday.

The zoning bylaw, now in its second draft, would revolutionize what can be built in the city. It is expected to come up for a final vote around the end of the year.

One of its most momentous proposals would end parking minimums, which currently force developers to provide a set amount of parking for each unit in new buildings.

Ottawa's expansive rural areas were an exception. City staff gave several options, including some that would preserve a requirement for one parking spot per housing unit in rural villages. But that wasn't enough for Rideau-Jock Coun. David Brown, who asked them to look at requiring even more.

He said that residents in his expansive rural ward have no other option than to drive cars and trucks — and need somewhere to park them. He faced opposition but said he wasn't surprised.

"The war on cars is alive and well down here at city hall," he said.

Several urban and suburban councillors called Brown's proposal a step backward. They argued that developers will provide parking where it's needed and offer cheaper housing where it isn't.

"I am very worried about the erosion of what I think could be a revolutionary policy when it comes to increasing housing supply in our city, and that is abolishing parking minimums," Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster said.

"It doesn't mean parking is going away. It just means it won't be imposed on developers as a cost that they have to add to housing."

Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Sean Devine said the city should let the market decide. He found "irony" in the councillors supporting the motion, saying they often call for dialling back regulation, not increasing it.

"This motion puts more red tape into the process," he said.

Despite the criticism, Brown's proposal passed on a close vote. But Kanata South Coun. Allan Hubley made an even more controversial motion, calling on staff to come back with an option that would require one parking spot per unit in suburban areas that are underserved by transit.

He said he's already seeing multi-unit apartment projects get approved without any parking, even in advance of the new zoning bylaw. In his view, transit isn't keeping up, leaving people with little choice but to drive.

But Stittsville Coun. Glen Gower said the suburbs aren't "monolithic" and plenty of people get by with one or even no cars. Like Devine and Troster, he's putting his faith in the market.

"The market will respond to demand," Gower said. "Currently, in the suburbs, it would be very difficult to sell or rent a home without any parking. So I don't think there's any risk we're going to end up with a lack of parking."

The vote on Hubley's motion was tied 12 to 12. According to council rules, that means it fails, and the next draft of the zoning bylaw will still eliminate parking minimums in all but rural areas.

Councillor wants options for more density

The new zoning bylaw aims to allow significantly denser housing across the city, including at least four units on every residential lot as well as higher buildings on major streets.

City staff slightly pared back some of those moves in the second draft of the bylaw. But on Wednesday, Barrhaven West Coun. David Hill made a series of motions that could push permissions for higher density even further.

The first related to the lowest-density zones in single-family neighbourhoods. The draft recommends allowing buildings up to 11 metres — about three storeys — in newer suburbs outside the Greenbelt, but limiting them to 8.5 metres in older suburbs within the Greenbelt.

Hill asked staff to come back with an option that would set an 11-metre limit virtually across the board.

"We're in a housing crisis. We need to allow for missing middle housing ... the gradual gentle intensification in older neighbourhoods to allow for a single detached wartime house to turn into a duplex or a triplex or a quadplex," he said.

His second motion would affect the highest density zones. The draft would allow up to 27 storeys as of right, meaning developers could build towers that high without asking council for special permission. Hill's motion would allow 30.

Staff were also planning to come back with an option that retains restrictive height limits where they currently exist, even in some relatively high density zones. Hill's third motion asked staff not to do that.

All of Hill's motions passed unanimously.

Shelter zoning changes pass, with some pushback

Council also voted Wednesday to allow homeless shelters to open almost everywhere in the city, except in rural and industrial areas.

That change was initially supposed to come as part of the zoning bylaw, but Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper successfully moved to speed it up, arguing that the city could miss out on funding for anti-homelessness efforts.

Only Hill and Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo voted no on the shelter permissions. Lo argued that council was bypassing the consultation process that those changes would have gone through as part of the zoning bylaw.

He said his sensitivity to the issue was heightened by what he called a "rushed" and "bungled" process to select spots for Sprung Structures to house migrants.

"We seem destined to muddle again on the basis of bad process to accelerate something by a mere nine months," he said.