New Town of Oakville’s Zoning By-law

The Town of Oakville is in the process of developing a brand new town-wide zoning by-law.

The new zoning by-law is required to implement Livable Oakville (the new official plan) that came into force and effect in 2011.

A zoning by-law is the means by which the Town of Oakville regulates land uses and sets zoning standards for properties in Oakville.  For property owners in particular and residents and tenants, this is a very important document as the Livable Oakville Official Plan is significantly different from the previous official plan that dates from 1984.

Town Process

As part of the preparation for the new zoning by-law, the Town of Oakville staff members are presently in the process of preparing 12 technical papers on topics such as commercial and employment uses, parking and loading, and growth areas and mixed use areas, etc.

These twelve technical papers will be reviewed by the political subcommittee made up by the Mayor and six Councillors, and will be used to produce the first draft of the zoning by-law.  The subcommittee has met once already in May 2012, and is scheduled to meet again in June, August and during the Fall. 

The Town of Oakville had originally anticipated that they will commence community work shops in the Spring of 2012.  Due to other public issues (such as communication towers), it is expected that this time frame will be pushed back, perhaps to the Fall.  These work shops will be seeking input from the community and providing information as to what is appropriate to be in a zoning by-law.

Draft Zoning By-law

Again it had been expected that the first draft of the new zoning by-law would be available in September of 2012.  The new time line is now likely early 2013 once the subcommittee has reviewed it in December 2012.  Once released, the draft by-law will then lead to further community consultation with the hope and expectation that the zoning by-law will be adopted as soon thereafter as possible.

Resources

For interested members of the Chamber, the Town of Oakville Work Program for the New Zoning By-law is available on the Town of Oakville’s website.  You can go to the Town of Oakville’s website www.oakville.ca and search under Zoning By-law Review (inZONE) and you will get a status update on the zoning by-law review and you can also download the inZONE work plan.

If you want to sign up to be on the mailing list for inZONE, email the Town of Oakville at inZONE@oakville.ca.

Participation

Because zoning by-laws regulate land uses by providing specific permission for certain uses and prohibiting other uses and regulating uses, it is vitally important for all property owners, businesses and tenants in Oakville to participate in this process.  If you do not participate in the process and fail to make oral or written submissions on the new draft zoning by-law, you will not be able to appeal the by-law to the Ontario Municipal Board.

The foregoing should not be considered to be legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Please consult a lawyer to get advice and an opinion on your unique circumstances.