Ontario Construction News staff writer
The City of Mississauga’s updated Official Plan will increase the types of housing built including garden suites, duplexes, triplexes, townhomes and mid-rise buildings. Staff will provide an overview of the updated housing and land use policies to planning and development committee on June 26 at 1:30 p.m., as part of the city’s Official Plan Review.
Participants can watch the live stream without registering or join the meeting in person at city hall. Advance registration is required to participate and/or make a comment virtually during the meeting by emailing deputations.presentations@mississauga.ca or calling 905-615-3200 ext. 5423 no later than today (June 23).
Comments can also be made on the draft policies using the online commenting tool on the Official Plan Review site until July 23.
Staff are proposing new residential land use designations that will help remove barriers and encourage more types of housing. Land use designations are important because they outline what can be built on a parcel of land and the scale of the buildings. Broadening designations will remove some of the restrictions that have resulted in inequities through practices such as exclusionary zoning. Exclusionary zoning refers to areas that only allow single detached houses to be built and exclude other more affordable, multi-unit homes.
The proposed policies also encourage the development of mid-rise buildings (five to eight storeys) which are currently missing across much of Mississauga. Mid-rise buildings help with height transitions between low-rise and high-rise neighbourhoods bringing human scale development across the city.
Other updates include:
- direction for redevelopment of retail sites of more than one hectare
- encouraging the creation of more family-size units
- supporting the protection of rental housing
- integrating and simplifying strategic growth areas such as the urban growth centre and major transit station areas
A draft of the complete Official Plan will be prepared this fall followed by a final round of public comments. Once the OP is approved, the city will review its zoning by-laws.
Increasing ‘Missing Middle’ housing is also a key action in the city’s housing plan. Read Growing Mississauga: An Action Plan for New Housing to learn more about the city’s efforts to get more homes built, streamline building approvals and make homes more affordable.