City of Kitchener Additional Dwelling Units (Tiny Homes) Bylaw

STAFF REPORT

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To: Chief Administrative Officer Date: July 5, 2021

From: Robert Publow

Subject: City of Kitchener Additional Dwelling Units (Tiny Homes) Bylaw

Recommendation(s)

This report is provided for information. No staff recommendation accompanies this report and

Council action is not required.

Summary

This report provides an overview of the recent bylaw amendments considered and approved by

the City of Kitchener, Ontario, to allow for Additional Dwelling Units (with specific reference to

Tiny Homes) and compares their approach to the City of Mission’s current approach for the

equivalent use called detached Secondary Dwelling Units within Mission. Some options for

amendments to the City of Mission bylaws that could follow the City of Kitchener example are

discussed along with a discussion of how tiny home uses would complement the need for

affordable housing in Mission.

Purpose

This report is to provide information in response to Resolution RC21/263 from the May 17, 2021

Regular Council Meeting.

RC21/263

That Staff review the City of Kitchener, Ontario model of integration of tiny homes and

provide a report to Council by July 5, 2021 with options on how tiny homes could fit

within the District of Mission.

Background

In response to changes to the Ontario Planning Act in 2019, many communities in Ontario are in

the process of enacting changes to their respective land use bylaws to allow for additional

dwelling units on single family and duplex lots.

The changes that were considered and approved in Kitchener effectively added a use called

Additional Dwelling Units (Detached) to the Kitchener Zoning Bylaw within all zones that permit

single family homes and or duplexes and limited the maximum number of dwellings on any one

lot to 3.

Additional Dwelling Units (Detached) are described in the Kitchener staff report as including:

o backyard home, coach house, laneway suite, tiny house, garden suite, etc.

Discussion and Analysis

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The constant and ever-increasing challenges to provide housing affordability and housing

availability has driven communities to consider many different approaches to fulfill this need for

more housing choices. One of the options to add housing options which are affordable and

generally accessible is through the allowance of secondary dwellings in addition to a principal

residence. In Mission, this has been provided as Secondary Dwelling Units (‘s’ Zones) as

defined by the City of Mission’s Zoning Bylaw.

The District of Mission Zoning Bylaw 5949-2020 permits Secondary Dwelling Unit uses in the

form of a Secondary Suite, Coach house, or Garden Cottage.

Within the City of Kitchener Zoning Bylaw, the term that is used is Additional Dwelling Units

(Detached). The City of Kitchener describes Additional Dwelling Units (Detached) as including

backyard home, coach house, laneway suite, tiny house, garden suite, etcetera.

Summary of the City of Kitchener’s approach

The amendment to the City of Kitchener Zoning Bylaw allowed Additional Dwelling Units

(Detached) on all residential lots that permit single family homes and or duplexes.

The City of Kitchener bylaw includes a list of minimum standards for the lot and the proposed

structure, which have been condensed and listed below:

1. A maximum size of dwelling - maximum floor area of 50% of the area of the main

dwelling or 80 square metres, whichever is less.

2. A minimum lot area of 395 sq m (4,250 sq ft) and a minimum lot width of 13.1 m (43 ft) is

required.

3. A requirement that the unit be connected to full municipal services.

4. A requirement for the Additional Dwelling Unit (Detached) to be setback a minimum of

0.6 m (2 ft) from the side and rear property lines, a maximum building height for most

roof types of 4.5 m (14.75 ft or 1.5 storeys), and a maximum lot coverage for all

accessory buildings of 15%.

5. Setback requirements for the main dwelling. For single detached dwellings and

duplexes, 1.2 m (4 ft) will be required on each side. For semi-detached dwellings 2.5 m

(8.2 ft) will be required on one side.

6. Only allowing the units in the rear yard, which mirrors current zoning rules for sheds and

detached garages.

7. A requirement for a 1.1 m (3.6 ft) walkway from the detached unit to the street.

8. For new Single Detached, Duplex, and Semi-Detached Dwellings that will have an

Additional Dwelling Unit (Detached), a requirement that its front yard setback must be in

line with the setback of neighbouring properties.

9. Requiring that 1 parking space per unit be provided on-site for the unit.

10. Allowing up to 3 parking spaces to be in tandem on a property (one behind the other).

It is important to note that the reference to “tiny house” within the City of Kitchener documents is

referring to structures that are constructed or approved under either the provincial building code

or Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Group standards, such as CSA A277, or CSA Z240

Manufactured Homes (MH). There is no option within the City of Kitchener Bylaw which would

allow the approval of a tiny house that is not CSA approved.

The current City of Mission approach

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The City of Mission Zoning Bylaw offers corresponding Secondary Dwelling allowances to all

single family residential zones; these zones are referred to as ‘s’ zones. Mission’s current

approach is to rezone properties at the request of property owners and are considered on a

case-by-case basis to ensure the appropriate ‘s’ zone is applied to allow a Secondary Dwelling

Unit, which can be constructed at the discretion of the owner as a Secondary Suite, Coach

House or Garden Cottage. For the purpose of this discussion, the focus will be on how detached

Secondary Dwellings (Coach Houses and Garden Cottages) are regulated in the City of

Mission.

In general, each application for a corresponding ‘s’ zone is reviewed against several basic

parameters:

 Available lot area for the proposed type of Secondary Dwelling

 Access to the proposed Secondary Dwelling

 Availability of additional required parking

 Availability of road frontage for overflow parking

 Integration of Secondary Dwelling into the surrounding neighbourhood

The single most common source of concern and complaints related to any Secondary Dwelling

Unit is parking, and therefore the provision of parking receives a significant amount of scrutiny

during the review process.

The City’s Zoning Bylaw contains regulations on setbacks, maximum sizes, and heights for

detached Secondary Dwellings and are summarized below:

OCP designation

Rural

Residential

Suburban

Urban

Compact

Max size

110 sq m

(1,184 sq ft)

50% of

principal

dwelling

110 sq m

(1,184 sq ft)

50% of principal

dwelling

75 sq m

(807 sq ft)

50% of principal

dwelling

75 sq m

(807 sq ft)

50% of principal

dwelling

75 sq m

(807 sq ft)

50% of principal

dwelling

Height

9.0 m

(29.5 ft)

9.0 m

(29.5 ft)

S20s - 9.0 m

(29.5 ft)

S10s - 8.0 m

26.2 ft)

8.0 m

(26.2 ft)

No taller than

Principal

Dwelling

8.0 m

(26.2 ft)

No taller than

Principal

Dwelling

Permitted in front of

principal dwelling

Yes

Front setback

7.5 m (24.6 ft)

Rear setback

7.5 m (24.6 ft)

1.3 m (4.3 ft)

UC465s

1.2 m (3.9 ft)

UC372s

0.5 m (1.6 ft)

Interior side setback

4.5 m (14.8 ft)

3.0 m (9.8 ft)

1.5 m (4.9 ft)

1.2 m (3.9 ft)

Exterior setback

4.5 m (14.8 ft)

3.0 m (9.8 ft)

As mentioned, parking is often a concern related to detached Secondary Dwelling Units. The

current requirement is 2 parking stalls for the principal dwelling and 1 stall for the secondary

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dwelling, for a total of 3 parking stalls on a site. The provided parking stalls must provide

unencumbered access to the street.

Summary

The City of Mission Zoning Bylaw contains all the same basic regulations as was introduced into

the City of Kitchener Bylaw. The significant difference is that the City of Kitchener Bylaw

amendment made Additional Dwelling Units (Detached) an outright permitted use in all single

family and duplex zones, compared to the City of Mission’s approach which requires rezoning of

individual properties to specifically allow for a Secondary Dwelling Unit.

Another difference is parking. The City of Kitchener allows tandem parking of all 3 required

parking stalls, compared to Mission’s Bylaw which requires that each parking stall to have

access to the street without interfering with one of the other parking stalls. This requirement for

unencumbered parking does become challenging on smaller lots, especially where the

dwellings are situated close to the road or lane. The City of Mission’s approach allows detached

Secondary Dwelling units in areas without sanitary sewer service where in the City of Kitchener

the lot must have full municipal servicing.

Options for amendments to the City of Mission approach

The most straightforward way to integrate the City of Kitchener example would be to allow

detached Secondary Dwellings in all Urban, Urban Compact and Suburban zones where

sanitary sewer and municipal water is available. If this option is considered for the urban area, it

should also be considered whether to include those Rural and Rural Residential areas where

sanitary sewer and water service are not available. It is noted that this option is being carefully

considered in Mission’s Secondary Suite program.

As noted, the City of Mission’s parking requirements are more onerous than those of the City of

Kitchener. Changes to the parking requirements should be carefully considered to ensure that

impacts to residential neighbourhoods are minimized.

Another option that could be considered would be to permit more than 1 detached secondary

dwelling on a lot under certain conditions, such as minimum lot area per dwelling and available

parking.

If there are changes made to the zoning bylaw to allow Secondary Dwelling as outright

permitted uses a potential concern might be a shift in workload from the Planning Division to the

Building Division.

Tiny Homes – What are they and how to they fit within the available options for affordable

housing

The City of Mission’s Zoning Bylaw does not have a minimum size requirement for secondary

dwelling units. Small, or tiny, detached Secondary Dwelling Units are currently permitted within

an ‘s’ zoned property and are restricted in maximum size. Detached Secondary Dwellings in

Mission are routinely designed at the maximum permitted, and significantly smaller units are the

exception.

There are several recognized standards created by the CSA Group which are used to describe

and regulate structures typically constructed in off-site factories. The City of Mission would

accept applications for Secondary Dwelling that meet the current BC Building Code, the CSA

A277 standard or the CSA Z240 Manufactured Home standard.

An excellent discussion regarding tiny homes and the current challenges related to municipal

approvals can be found in a report prepared by the BC Housing Research Centre titled Tiny

Homes – An Alternative to Conventional Housing.

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The diagram below, Figure 1, from the BC Housing report summarizes the current approval

options for the group of structures generically called tiny homes.

Figure 1

Generally, when the term ‘tiny home’ is used, most people think of small units typically

constructed on wheeled frames, that share more similarities to recreational vehicles than

permanent dwellings. But the truth is that there are many other types of dwellings, both

permanent and recreational that fall into to the broad discussion of tiny homes as depicted in the

table below, Table 1, from the report prepared by the BC Housing Research Centre titled Tiny

Homes – An Alternative to Conventional Housing (https://www.bchousing.org/research-

centre/library/housing-forms-designs/tiny-homes&sortType=sortByDate)

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Table 1

As demonstrated by the figure and table above, the first question that must be answered when

discussing tiny homes is what housing type is being discussed. In some contexts, such as that

of the City of Kitchener example, the term tiny house is the same as a Garden Cottage in the

City of Mission terminology. In many other situations, individuals are exploring the options for

placing a structure that is currently not approvable as a permanent residence in Canada as it

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does not meet the provincial building code, the correct CSA standard, or any CSA standard at

all.

Generally, tiny homes offer one option in the housing continuum to meeting affordability

objectives of a community. While there are differences in terminology and allowances for these

types of housing units from one community to the next, Mission continues to offer options for

secondary dwellings in it “s” zones and is currently working to make these housing options even

more accessible while at the same ensuring the best fit within neighbourhoods and providing

housing that meets life safety and building structure requirements as set out in provincial

regulations.

Financial Implications

There are no financial implications associated with this report.

Communication

No communication action is required.

Summary and Conclusion

This report provided a cursory comparison of the City of Kitchener example of integrating

detached Secondary Dwellings into their existing residential zones and preseted options for

future discussion on how those changes could be applied to the City of Mission including

possibilities where, and how many Secondary Dwellings could be permitted under different

situations.

The idea of tiny homes, what they are and how they can be approved as permanent residents

was also discussed.

This report is provided for information. No staff recommendation accompanies this report and

Council action is not required.

Report Prepared by: Robert Publow, Manager of Planning

Reviewed by: Monica Stuart, Planning Assistant

Approved for Inclusion: Mike Younie, Chief Administrative Officer