Land Use Bylaw Amendments to the Urban Commercial (C3) Zone

An application has been brought forward by staff for amendments to the Land Use Bylaw to the Urban Commercial Zone (C3):

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. • to permit residential conversions within a building constructed prior to August 27,1975, up to a maximum of 2 units, and
                     • remove the requirement for multi-unit residential development to exceed 3,250m2 (49,998ft2) in gross floor area to be permitted by Development Agreement.

The Urban Commercial (C3) Zone was created in 2014 to promote a more compact and consistent commercial transition between the town's edge and center. To achieve this, the zone accommodates commercial development, mixed-use development, and multi-unit residential development. Single and two-unit residential developments are not permitted. This has created legal and non-legal non-conformities for several residential properties that existed prior to the change in 2014. There are 49 properties in the C3 Zone of which 10 are legal nonconforming residential uses. Four of these are medium to high-density residential. Owners of residential properties zoned C3 cannot perform residential conversions which are permitted in other residential and commercial zones. The proposed change would allow for the alteration of, but not demolition of, a residential building in the C3 zone to increase the number of principal dwelling units, up to a maximum of two.

On June 10th, 2021 the planning analysis was presented to Council and the Council for the Town of Bridgewater passed the following resolution:

That Council for the Town of Bridgewater give first consideration to the proposed text amendments of the Land Use Bylaw as contained in Appendix A of Document 21-065B and schedule a Public Hearing for August 9, 2021 during the regular meeting of Council