St. Marys zoning bylaw review enters key drafting stage as council weighs housing, parking and density changes

By Galen Simmons

St. Marys councillors spent much of a strategic priorities committee meeting March 17 working through a wide-ranging update to the town’s zoning-bylaw review, a process that will shape how and where future housing, businesses and development can happen in the community.

Representatives from NPG Planning Solutions, the consulting firm hired by the town to lead the review, presented council with a series of policy questions and possible changes for consideration before the project moves into the drafting phase.

“The town has initiated a review and an update of the zoning bylaw,” said Grant Brouwer, the town’s director of building and planning. “The project team is here today. We have already talked to town staff, agencies and stakeholders, and some of the community as well through a survey and stuff like that, but there’s a number of items that we have in front of (the committee) that we kind of need a bit of direction on, and maybe to make sure we’re looking at things in the proper (context) that council wants to see in the zoning bylaw review.”

The review is intended to update St. Marys’ existing zoning bylaw so it aligns with the town’s new official plan, recent provincial planning-policy changes and current best practices in land-use planning.

According to the report to council, the town is required under the Planning Act to review and update its zoning bylaw. NPG has been working on the project since late 2025 and has already met with staff, council and several local committees, held an open house and released a community survey to gather public input.

The zoning-bylaw review has been broken into four phases: a background review, proposed directions, drafting the new zoning bylaw and finalizing that bylaw for council approval. The March 17 meeting focused on the second phase, with consultants seeking feedback from council that will guide the first draft of the new bylaw.

Among the biggest themes discussed were housing and residential intensification.

Consultants asked council to consider whether additional residential units should be more broadly permitted, what development standards should apply to those units and whether new forms of housing such as stacked townhouses and back-to-back townhouses should be specifically defined and permitted in certain residential zones.

Council also reviewed possible changes around lot size, setbacks, lot coverage and building height, as well as whether some forms of higher-density housing should be permitted as-of-right in areas already identified for that kind of development in the town’s official plan.

“Residential densities and intensification … is largely around pre-zoning lands potentially to be in line with new direction of the official plan,” NPG managing partner Aaron Butler told councillors. “ … The official plan contains a policy allowing more dense housing forms like townhouses and apartments up to four storeys on sites that meet locational criteria. Generally, that locational criteria is that, among other things, the land fronts onto or is within a certain distance – 100 metres – of an arterial road or a collector road, and is adjacent to other site already zoned for high density or non-residential use. So, there could be sites – and this is up for discussion – that are obvious that could be zoned this way.”

By pre-zoning lands that meet these criteria, Butler said developers would still follow the normal permitting and application process with the town, however they may not need to file for a site-specific zoning-bylaw amendment – saving both time and money.

“This is something where, in a smaller municipality, we could really do to encourage development and reduce costs for people so people sitting on these lands might say, ‘Okay, if the town is okay with there being severances and there being higher density, and it’s zoned for that and I’m not going to have to spend an extra $10,000, $12,000 on a consultant … it might make a difference whether I proceed with the development,’ ” Mayor Al Strathdee said.

“Those are exactly my thoughts when I looked at this as a young person who just can’t get into the housing market or isn’t willing to try,” deputy mayor Brogan Aylward added. “It has been nice to see this council’s attitude towards increased density, and I think that just earmarking lands … really encourages development, and that’s exactly the direction I want to go.”

Parking was another major topic the consultants presented to councillors.

The consultants noted parking-related matters made up a significant number of the town’s recent minor variance applications and asked council to consider whether downtown parking requirements should be reduced to help facilitate development and redevelopment. The public survey also showed strong support for requiring parking for additional residential units, while raising broader questions about how much parking is needed for different uses.

“As we’re dealing with a senior population and an aging population, not everyone drives,” Strathdee said. “I own a residential building where I would say probably three-quarters of the people drive and a quarter don’t. … I think parking, lots of times, is a barrier to development. I think we get too bogged down in it and the reality is yeah, we need parking but … you should let the market dictate. If I want to build some units for people who don’t drive and I can’t provide parking for them, I still think you should be able to do the development because I think that market exists and I think we get too wrapped up in the (requirement for) one-and-a-half spaces (per residential unit).

“ … I don’t think that’s the reality of the marketplace and I think we need to have some flexibility in our zoning.”

Speaking on the topic of parking, Brouwer said the town could see more residential redevelopment in the downtown core with the potential for apartments being established above downtown businesses, however parking requirements in the current zoning bylaw have traditionally made that more difficult to achieve.

“I agree with that,” Coun. Dave Lucas said. “Parking in our core where there actually isn’t physically spots for that; I don’t think it should preclude us developing that or somebody being able to develop that.”

Other issues raised through the review so far include permitting smaller residential lots, allowing more home-based businesses, rezoning some employment lands to residential uses, addressing stacked and back-to-back townhouse standards, clarifying home-business permissions and updating engineering-related regulations such as visibility triangles, setbacks from swales and matters tied to sanitary capacity.

The report notes NPG reviewed 25 minor variance applications containing 41 separate variances as part of the project, with setbacks making up nearly half of all applications. Most variances reviewed were associated with residential uses, a trend consultants suggested could help identify areas where the existing bylaw may no longer reflect current development patterns or practical needs.

A community survey completed earlier this year drew just 11 respondents. Results showed most respondents had not considered building an additional residential unit, though all respondents who answered the question about parking said such units should require vehicle parking.

“We’re going through this exercise and looking for comments and questions and input. Without sounding negative, 11 respondents is not very good considering we’ve had recreation surveys that had 1,500 respondents,” Strathdee said.

“ … As a councillor, I hear housing as being one of the most important issues of our time, so we may want to have a more fulsome discussion on where things are at and people you’ve talked to because this is something where I think we do need more input from the public and I think there has been a shift, in my time, in public opinion about zoning and so forth. I think it’s important that everyone speaks to what they hear.”

Council’s strategic priorities committee, which is made up of all members of council, was asked to provide comments and direction only.

The next major step in the project will be the preparation of a draft zoning bylaw, followed by further public consultation before a final version is brought forward to council for approval.