Lantzville looking to replace 15-year-old zoning bylaw with a brand-new one

Lantzville residents will get an opportunity to share their feelings about a potential new zoning bylaw later this month.

On Feb. 24, the District of Lantzville will be holding a public hearing for a proposed zoning bylaw that would regulate the use and development of land within the municipality. If adopted, the new zoning bylaw would replace the district’s existing bylaw which has been around since 2005.

Under the proposed bylaw, the total number of zoning designations would drop from 26 to 19, eliminating neighbourhood-specific zones such as the Arbutus, Aspengrove and Doumont comprehensive development zones. The Foothills development property would be classified as a single zoning designation under the new bylaw. The existing bylaw splits the Foothills property into four different zones.

There would also be a number of new zoning designations under the proposed bylaw, including light industry, community services, mobile home park, golf course, transportation, forestry, park and village commercial.

Lantzville councillors voted 3-2 in favour of passing the first two readings of the proposed zoning bylaw at a meeting Jan. 27.

During that meeting, councillors spent more than an hour making a number of amendments to the bylaw. The changes include increasing the minimum lot size for carriage homes or secondary suites, increasing the number of recreational vehicles and watercrafts that can be stored on one’s property and allowing woodworking spaces or shops as a home business within residential zones, provided they’re on lots greater than 1,000 square metres.

Coun. Ian Savage said while he was pleased with the amendments, he still couldn’t support the bylaw. His main concern is the language that would permit the Foothills residential development to include secondary suites, which he said was a direct violation of the official community plan and would only result in more traffic.

Coun. Karen Proctor, however, said she’s supportive of the amended bylaw, calling it an easy-to-read document compared to the 2005 zoning bylaw.

“I think it is very well-written. I really like the way it is organized. It is easy to find things in it. Our old bylaw in comparison, it was cumbersome, it was hard to go through and I think staff did a really good job.”

Proctor also said that even though there were a number of amendments to the bylaw, councillors are not trying to over-regulate Lantzville.

“I certainly hope that the public realizes that we are not trying to make life onerous, we’re just trying to have Lantzville run well,” she said.

Lantzville Mayor Mark Swain voted against the bylaw, explaining that he couldn’t support it because councillors hadn’t received enough public input to make a decision.

“There are a lot of things to consider with respect to secondary suites and carriage houses,” he said.

The Feb. 24 public hearing will take place at 7 p.m. at Lantzville’s district hall.

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