City council passed the first two readings of the proposed zoning bylaw Monday, prompting a public hearing scheduled for June 23 at 7 p.m. in the Shaw Auditorium.
If adopted, the new bylaw will replace the city's existing zoning bylaw, which has been in place since 1993, and will effectively rezone all properties in the City of Nanaimo, though the downtown area and parks will be largely unchanged according to Andrew Tucker, director of planning.
A zoning bylaw determines what uses are permitted on a particular property and regulates the siting, height and density of buildings allowed on a lot.
The new bylaw reduces the number of zones from 77 to 52, including a reduction of residential zones from 31 to 15, reflects better on the Official Community Plan established in 2008, and introduces updated definitions of neighourhoods, corridors and urban nodes.
The entire bylaw can be viewed at www.nanaimo.ca.