Review of Winnipeg Zoning By-law 6400/94

[Pootkao]

http://undeterminedurbanity.wordpres...640094-review/

Hey folks
The city's zoning by-laws have been under review for the last while. These are key civic laws which affect the planning and ability to implement said plans in regards to urban development. The new by-laws will be going before city council soon, and this may in fact be the most important urban planning decision to face council in years.

The gentleman at this link has been gracious enough to go over the whole shebang and outline some concerns.

Discuss away.

[trueviking]

wow...i hope someone takes his letter seriously....some amazing suggestions....progressive ideas.

thanks for pointing us to it.

[drew]

I love the idea about "coach homes" but quite honestly this is probably a non-starter. The costs associated with building or retrofitting a garage loft/attic to the present building code for residential space will be cost prohibitive for about 99.9% of people who own homes in the inner city.

[biguc]

That's really no reason to not allow them, though. Coach homes are great, and from those with the means comes our benefit.

Most of this is common sense and not really controversial. I'm not sure how 3.3 would work, though. Not saying it wouldn't, I just don't know enough to tell if it's a good idea or could ever happen. I flatly disagree with his last point in 3.2.1 about barring offices from ground floors of commercial buildings. Yeah, it sucks walking past a bunch of storefronts with offices in them, but a lot of the time the demand just isn't there for retail, and allowing offices in the space keeps the building viable.

[worldwide]

haha nice. as soon as i saw this i knew it would be willies letter. i'll let him know you guys enjoyed it

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by drew

I love the idea about "coach homes" but quite honestly this is probably a non-starter. The costs associated with building or retrofitting a garage loft/attic to the present building code for residential space will be cost prohibitive for about 99.9% of people who own homes in the inner city.

What is the market for coach homes in Winnipeg? Houses in the inner city are already pretty cheap, so who is really going to want to live in someone's garage?

[rgalston]

Originally Posted by Andy6

What is the market for coach homes in Winnipeg? Houses in the inner city are already pretty cheap, so who is really going to want to live in someone's garage?

It would be a nice little source of income to the property owner, say to rent it out to a couple of students. It's nice to think that renters in a coach house could probably cover my monthly mortgage payments. But that's just it: the cost of owning a house in central Winnipeg (even in a more affluent neighborhood like Wolseley) is low enough that the extra income isn't worth the cost of building a coach house, or giving up part of your property to renters. Also, cheap, fairly nice, fairly quiet walk-up apartments close to transit and/or the U of W are still in large supply for students.

Still, it would be nice if city zoning regs allowed for coach homes if people wanted to build them, or if property values increased.

[newflyer]

You can currently buy condos a block from the university for 40 thousand .. which really makes it very cheap.. even for students. The problem still remains the safety of the area. The city need to be vigilent in tearing down abandoned homes and drug houses.... and commiting to clean up the inner city with new policing and security resources.

[biguc]

Originally Posted by rgalston

Still, it would be nice if city zoning regs allowed for coach homes if people wanted to build them, or if property values increased.

Yeah, that's the heart of the thing. Whatever the market, there's no reason to restrict something that's good, even if it isn't going to happen anyway.