[2:39] It's working. Okay, so let's get
[2:43] started. Good evening everyone and welcome. We really appreciate
[2:47] you being here and taking the time to be part of this session on the
[2:50] community design guidelines. My name is Diksha Marwaha
[2:54] and I'm a planner with the town. On behalf of myself and the team,
[2:58] I would like to say that we are really excited to be kicking off this
[3:01] first engagement session and to hear from you as the people who live
[3:05] and work in the Town of the Blue Mountains, your input will play an important
[3:09] role in shaping the community design guidelines. The Town has
[3:12] engaged SGL Planning to update the community design guidelines.
[3:16] We have Catherine and Sierra here with us this evening.
[3:19] They have been working closely with the Town staff throughout this process.
[3:23] We also have member Jim Oliver and Councillor Hope
[3:28] with us tonight, so thank you for joining us. Tonight's session will take
[3:32] place in two parts. First, we will have a formal presentation
[3:36] followed by a question and answer period. For the question
[3:40] and answers, we will be using the lectern, and anyone with a question is welcome
[3:43] to come up and speak. Both the presentation and the question and answers will be
[3:47] recorded so that those who were unable to attend can watch the session later.
[3:51] Following the presentation and question and answers, we will move into a
[3:55] more informal portion of the evening where you are welcome to speak directly
[3:59] with the staff or the consultants. I'd also like
[4:02] to note that these are the draft guidelines and nothing is final at
[4:07] this stage. We are still in the process of developing them, so your feedback is
[4:10] really important to us. If there's something you like
[4:14] or something you feel could be improved, we encourage you to share your
[4:18] thoughts. And with that, I will hand it over to our
[4:22] consultants to begin the presentation.
[4:27] So hi everyone, my name is Sierra Horton. I'm a senior planner and urban
[4:31] designer at SGL. You might have seen me before, really involved in the Official
[4:35] Plan project as well. And this is Catherine Jay, Principal and Head
[4:39] of Urban Design at SGL. So we've been working on the guidelines, excited to finally
[4:43] get them back rolling after the OP. So I'll just
[4:47] give a brief overview of what we've done to date.
[4:52] So, just an overview of the open house tonight.
[4:56] The presentation, I'll just give an update on why, why we're
[5:00] updating the urban design guidelines. What's the purpose of the guidelines?
[5:05] What is the structure that we've changed in the guidelines? Where do they apply
[5:09] specifically in the town? And then an overview of the
[5:13] community design principles and a bit of a discussion of character.
[5:17] And then just an overview of the main sections of the design guidelines.
[5:21] And as mentioned, we'll do a quick Q&A and then we'll keep
[5:25] it, keep it informal tonight with our small group.
[5:31] So why update the community design guidelines? So the town's current
[5:35] existing guidelines were developed over a decade ago and they're
[5:38] from 2012. So as we all know, the town has experienced
[5:43] significant change and growth since then, and an update to the design guidelines
[5:47] is being undertaken to align with and implement the new official plan
[5:51] policies that we have. Allow us to reflect
[5:55] the town's vision and evolution as it's been evolving over the years,
[6:00] incorporate new best practices in community design such as sustainability,
[6:05] current building standards, pedestrian-friendly design, streetscape design,
[6:11] incorporating accessibility, and then really just looking at what standards are
[6:15] outdated or obsolete sections and figuring out is there a better
[6:19] location for some of those guidelines, so we have moved some more
[6:23] specific guidelines into documents such as the engineering
[6:26] standards instead of the design guidelines. But overall,
[6:29] just taking a better look at the existing guidelines
[6:33] and modernizing the document.
[6:42] So just as a framework, it's helpful to understand how
[6:46] the design guidelines fit within the broader planning realm.
[6:50] So we have the official plan at the top and then zoning and then the
[6:53] urban design guidelines. So really we know that the official
[6:57] plan establishes the town's long-term vision for growth and policy direction for
[7:01] how the community will grow. Then the zoning bylaw has those specific standards
[7:05] and rules for land uses, built form. You have things such
[7:09] as height, density, and setbacks in your zoning.
[7:12] And then the design guidelines kind of fit within these
[7:15] documents and focus on design, really focusing on how development
[7:19] should integrate with its surrounding context. So really
[7:24] the guidelines help implement what is already in the Official Plan and what's already in
[7:27] the zoning bylaw, and really providing visuals,
[7:31] examples of how these more specific policies
[7:35] and zoning standards would look like in real life and
[7:38] what we'd like development to look like.
[7:44] So this is a section in the design guidelines, just an overview of what the
[7:47] design— or who the design guidelines are for. I'm really
[7:51] just saying that they're for a large group of different people to use in
[7:55] different ways. So For council, we know this is an
[7:59] important document to get updated for council, but really just
[8:02] the intent for council is to confirm whether the application meets
[8:06] the town's design vision, which is established, as well
[8:09] as any specific guidelines for unique communities in the town.
[8:14] It's also for town staff and agencies to use as a reference when
[8:18] they're reviewing documents, really just as a guide to making sure
[8:21] that the official plan and zoning bylaw are being implemented, as well as
[8:25] what the town wants to see through the guidelines. So it's
[8:29] just a helpful tool for town staff to use.
[8:32] And then as well, we really want our developers,
[8:35] consultants, and planners, and landowners, and businesses
[8:38] to look at the guidelines and utilize them,
[8:42] because they say what we'd like the town to look like.
[8:45] And the public, it's also very important to understand how the town will
[8:49] evolve over time, and we'd like your feedback on what
[8:53] should be in the guidelines. So that's
[8:57] what the guidelines are for.
[9:01] So the primary purpose, and I've kind of already discussed this,
[9:04] but to provide detailed direction that supports the official planning zoning bylaw.
[9:08] The vision for the town is already really set out in those documents.
[9:12] So the design guidelines address both. They express design
[9:17] expectations and promote good design of both the public and private realm.
[9:20] So the public realm would be things like streets and parks and
[9:24] open spaces. Streetscapes, and then private realm involving
[9:29] building design, site design, things like that. So providing
[9:34] direction for those two different elements of the town.
[9:38] And it's really important to emphasize that the guidelines aren't intended to
[9:41] act as a rigid set of rules, but really
[9:45] just as a tool to help ensure compatibility,
[9:49] and they're to be applied on a site-specific basis.
[9:53] So we want developers and planners and consultants to be
[9:56] able to use the guidelines but apply them as they
[10:00] apply specifically to that site.
[10:08] So the concepts of character and compatibility and sense of place and
[10:12] these words that are thrown around a lot are really
[10:16] important in the guidelines, actually. And we know that—
[10:20] I have a few definitions on the side there. From the official plan,
[10:23] so character, compatible, and enhance are actually defined
[10:27] in your official plan. But we kind of know character as this term
[10:31] that's generally determined by the look and feel of an area.
[10:35] Sometimes you can define character instead using the term sense of place,
[10:40] and this is really just all the qualities that are positive
[10:44] in an area. So the intent and key message is really to make
[10:47] sure that new development supports high-quality
[10:51] and context-sensitive design and not specifically describing
[10:55] a singular design style, but we really want applicants to consider
[11:00] surrounding context and the area-specific objectives
[11:04] of, say, downtown Thornbury and
[11:08] kind of working with the town to follow that sense
[11:12] of place that's created. So, making sure that the development positively
[11:17] integrates in with its surroundings. Generally,
[11:21] the approach is to allow for flexibility and innovation and diversity
[11:26] while still allowing— or still creating that sense of place.
[11:34] So the guidelines apply across the town settlement areas.
[11:39] You can see the map here, so they apply to
[11:43] all those boxes. Generally, they're focused on town-wide
[11:48] and area-specific area-specific direction. So, there are specific
[11:52] areas where area-specific direction is given in the
[11:56] guidelines, and other places where it applies more generally.
[12:00] So, a big focus is Thornbury and Clarksburg, and it
[12:04] applies to neighborhoods. There's specific guidelines for neighborhoods in Thornbury,
[12:07] downtown Thornbury and Clarksburg, and then Highway 26 in
[12:13] Thornbury, as well as Craigleith. So, the residential
[12:17] areas of Craigleith and Craigleith Village, and then Laura Bay and Camperdown.
[12:21] So that's— these are the settlement areas that the guidelines focus
[12:24] on. And I'll explain, there's two volumes
[12:28] to the guidelines, but Volume 2 really describes the character
[12:32] of each settlement area and design objectives for each of these areas.
[12:39] There's a lot of information on this slide,
[12:42] but really just to show, these are screen captures from the document
[12:47] itself. So the overall structure, Originally,
[12:50] we had it as just one big guideline document, and then we decided
[12:55] to split it into two volumes,
[12:58] mostly to make it easy for development review,
[13:01] making sure that applicants know where to go to get their information that they need.
[13:05] So we split it up into Volume 1, which is the actual community design guidelines,
[13:10] and Volume 2, which speaks to more of the background
[13:14] envisioning and sense of place for each of these settlement
[13:18] areas. So Volume 1 is the main guideline
[13:22] document, so it has an introduction and then there are specific
[13:26] sections. So there's— it speaks to the environment, parks, public spaces,
[13:30] and culture. And then there's a section on neighborhood design and residential built
[13:34] form, a section for downtown and commercial areas,
[13:38] and then there's a section on urban employment areas.
[13:41] And then, as I mentioned, Volume 2 is really just There's
[13:45] a section for each different settlement area, and there's some design principles
[13:50] for how we'd like design to proceed
[13:54] in those areas. So the intent is the applicants look at both volumes,
[13:59] use Volume 1 for the main guidelines, and then
[14:02] making sure that you look at Volume 2, look at where your
[14:06] specific development site is located, and making sure that, okay, what is
[14:10] the vision, what are the principles for that area, And you want to make
[14:13] sure that whatever you're proposing aligns with both of those.
[14:20] So these are all located in Section 2, just some of the community
[14:24] design principles, a lot of them stemming from the OPR.
[14:28] So the main themes are sustainable design, natural character, community character,
[14:33] tourism and recreation, and cultural heritage.
[14:41] I will just give a brief overview of what has changed from the previous guidelines.
[14:46] It is important to note that a lot of the foundation has been carried forward
[14:49] and that we have mostly been working on refining and updating
[14:53] and reorganizing the current guidelines to reflect best practices
[14:57] in the town's evolving context. So, really overall,
[15:00] we have been focusing on modernizing the content, making sure that
[15:04] it is clear and usable. and then ensuring alignment with the new Official Plan.
[15:08] So, just to emphasize the sections
[15:12] that we've kind of moved around and kept and added to, each of these bullets
[15:16] relates to the sections of the previous design guidelines. So, I'll just
[15:21] quickly go through 2 slides to show you where information has
[15:24] been moved around. So, the commercial design section of
[15:29] the previous guidelines, we've kind of kept all the good building design,
[15:32] streetscape, and site design information that was already in there,
[15:35] updated it where applicable, and then we specifically added new
[15:39] guidelines that relate to downtown Thornbury,
[15:42] Clarksburg, and Highway 26 through Thornbury. So that's one of
[15:46] the, the main updates that we made to commercial design.
[15:50] For industrial design, it's been
[15:54] put into Section 5, Employment Areas, so just a different name.
[15:57] A lot of the built form and site design stuff that was already there has
[16:01] been carried forward and then just updated for best
[16:05] practice site design and compatibility considerations.
[16:09] And then as well, there was a section on greenfield design. We've incorporated
[16:12] that, a lot of that information,
[16:16] which speaks to the layout of lots
[16:19] and designing new neighborhoods. We've incorporated that
[16:23] in Section 3, Neighborhood Design.
[16:26] And then just the last two, what has changed, there was a previous section on
[16:30] streetscape design. So, we've incorporated that into both neighborhood
[16:34] design and downtown area and commercial areas.
[16:37] And then, as I mentioned previously, we looked at any specific standards
[16:42] that were very technical. We've removed those,
[16:45] but just— we haven't removed them, but kind of shifted them into
[16:49] different documents, such as the engineering standards.
[16:53] In terms of sustainable design, the previous document had
[16:57] Section 5 was just this Sustainable design.
[17:01] Instead, we've removed just having one sustainable design
[17:05] section and integrating it throughout the document.
[17:09] So you'll see, like, in the residential section, there will
[17:13] speak to, like, how you should be designing lots
[17:17] that are in a sustainable manner, sustainable, you know,
[17:21] residential built form. So really just integrating it instead of
[17:24] having it as its own last section that's standalone.
[17:32] And then just the last section, I'll just go over
[17:36] the updated guidelines and what they address.
[17:39] So Section 2 of the guidelines talks about environment, parks,
[17:43] public spaces, and culture. So it has a section on natural
[17:47] environment. A few of these talk about how development should address woodlots,
[17:51] watercourses, trees, and hedgerows, and just designing development
[17:55] appropriately around those elements. Parks and waterfronts,
[17:58] so just how you should be designing different types of parks.
[18:02] Trails, it talks about stormwater management and how facilities should
[18:06] be designed, as well as ponds. Community spaces and public buildings,
[18:10] so both the building as well as the site
[18:15] around the building. Public art, cultural heritage
[18:18] buildings, and gateway features.
[18:24] So Section 3, which is Neighborhood Design and Residential Built Form,
[18:29] it talks about streets and blocks as well as lot configuration and building
[18:33] orientation. And a lot of this is how we should be orienting
[18:36] new streets, talks about street length, pedestrian connections,
[18:40] access, really at a high level how
[18:44] we want new neighborhoods to be laid out. And then also talking about
[18:48] all the different types of built form, really focusing
[18:52] on compatibility and variety and overall good
[18:55] built form principles for single and semi-detached dwellings,
[18:59] infill and replacement housing, making sure it's compatible with adjacent dwellings,
[19:04] additional residential units on a lot. There's guidelines
[19:08] for townhouses, and there's guidelines for low-rise residential buildings.
[19:14] And then finally, for downtown and commercial areas,
[19:17] There's a lot of information about streetscapes, which is kind of a town-initiated
[19:25] element of the guidelines. So this includes sidewalks, transition areas,
[19:28] and patios, discusses street trees and plantings,
[19:33] street furniture, lighting, and wayfinding. And then it also
[19:37] talks about building design. So within downtown areas,
[19:42] there's a section on commercial buildings, so just your standalone commercial
[19:46] as well as mixed-use buildings. So that would be with a
[19:50] commercial component or non-residential component at the bottom and
[19:54] then residential above. So how those types of buildings should be designed.
[19:58] And then, as I mentioned previously, specific guidelines for
[20:01] how buildings should look in downtown Thornbury and Clarksburg from
[20:06] a compatibility perspective and how they should address the street and
[20:11] height And then specific guidelines as well we've introduced for
[20:15] buildings along Highway 26 in Thornbury. And then
[20:19] there's also just some guidelines that we've carried forward for site design for
[20:23] commercial, commercial sites.
[20:28] So that is through the main sections of the guidelines.
[20:31] And I've just left where the guidelines are posted at the link
[20:35] here. I know there's a dedicated project page on
[20:39] the town's website. Many staff reports and council decisions
[20:43] will be posted on this website as well, and I know subscribers
[20:48] will receive email notifications whenever we have posted
[20:51] new information. This presentation, I believe, will be on there,
[20:56] so that link is useful.
[20:59] I think we can proceed to the Q&A.
[21:04] Yeah, and if anyone has a question, you are welcome to come up front to
[21:07] the lectern here, and chances are if you are thinking it,
[21:11] someone else is probably probably thinking the same. So please come forward and share your
[21:15] feedback and comments with us.
[21:34] There we go. I guess I'm here more as an interested
[21:38] citizen tonight than I am as a member of the Committee of Adjustment.
[21:41] A lot of my questions will relate to that as well.
[21:45] You talked briefly about building design and
[21:49] the configurations. A couple of the things we've talked about at Committee
[21:54] of Adjustment, and from an environmental perspective, things that are
[21:58] important to me are things like lot occupancy,
[22:01] lot size, and building heights.
[22:05] And To what extent are
[22:09] those kinds of criteria— this is a guideline,
[22:13] and I think I've been told by staff before that things like lot
[22:18] coverage percentages are a bylaw issue rather than
[22:21] a guideline issue, and I'd appreciate an explanation of to what
[22:25] extent those things are detailed in the new community design guidelines,
[22:29] specifically around lot occupancy for residential and
[22:34] building height for residential as well as mixed-use and commercial.
[22:40] What do you mean by lot occupancy? Well, in the town
[22:44] of the Blue Mountains now, residential buildings are only supposed to
[22:48] occupy a maximum of 30% of the square footage
[22:52] of the lot. I see what you mean. And we're continuously at committee of adjustment
[22:57] having applicants coming and requesting relief. From that criterion.
[23:01] If anything, I as a citizen, as an environmentalist,
[23:05] would like to see the percentage reduced, not increased,
[23:09] in terms of the environmental impacts of larger structures,
[23:13] more roofs, more runoff, et cetera, less grass, less green space,
[23:16] et cetera. So that's what I'm talking about. Right.
[23:23] So with regards to Those specific
[23:27] elements that you identified, it is
[23:31] correct that the specifics of those are in
[23:34] the zoning bylaw. Where the guidelines can assist
[23:39] really comes with that compatibility piece.
[23:43] And so, more likely you're
[23:46] talking about infill type development, I would presume.
[23:52] And so, what we try and do through the guidelines
[23:56] is emphasize that context and compatibility
[24:00] piece so that people understand lot
[24:07] frontage, setback,
[24:10] space between existing buildings. So,
[24:13] if you're coming in for a committee of adjustment, that means you
[24:17] are varying the existing permission, so you want to do something different.
[24:21] So if they want to do something different, then they
[24:25] should be looking at how they respect the existing building
[24:31] setback along the street, what that streetscape looks like,
[24:35] the spaces in between, the building mass. So often
[24:40] you probably see through Committee of Adjustment an
[24:45] addition on the back that would then change the mass of that building.
[24:49] And so, you're trying to encourage developers
[24:54] or builders to look through the lens of that compatibility
[24:58] to maintain a rear yard setback,
[25:03] a similar type of maybe roof or design.
[25:07] It doesn't mean that the buildings have to be designed the same,
[25:10] But those are the things that the guidelines are pointing to,
[25:14] to make people think about how they should be designing the
[25:19] framework for their lot and how it can be compatible
[25:23] within that context. I don't know
[25:26] if that helps.
[25:39] Hi there. I will— Pamela Spence,
[25:42] and I mentioned a couple of things to you, and I will put other more
[25:46] detailed comments in the submission.
[25:50] But I did see that in the guidelines there is context
[25:55] where it references the zoning bylaw and some things and engineering standards
[25:58] on other things. One of my concerns under
[26:03] the category of sustainable sustainable design is
[26:06] low impact design solutions. The town doesn't
[26:10] have— correct me if I'm wrong, Shawn— but I haven't
[26:13] seen them, seen low impact design solutions
[26:17] in the engineering standards. I've asked the engineering department about
[26:21] it and they say, well, there's too many to choose from or something like that.
[26:26] And I think
[26:30] it I would appreciate under sustainable design there a
[26:33] little bit more emphasis and maybe some descriptions of things in certain contexts
[26:38] where they would work here. Because of the escarpment and the
[26:42] bay, we have a huge drainage issue. So any ability to
[26:46] keep your moisture on your soil in your own property
[26:49] and, you know, increase the permeability or
[26:53] the retention of it and stop the bed load getting into the bay is
[26:59] something that I look for in these design solutions. So if
[27:02] you'd consider that, thank you.
[27:12] Thanks very much for doing this. And just,
[27:16] I wonder if you could walk us through an example
[27:20] of a developer comes forward with a
[27:23] proposal where and how are
[27:27] these integrated into the process? Like, you know,
[27:31] especially given the current environment where we keep hearing from the
[27:35] province how a municipality's ability to
[27:39] regulate certain things is being reduced and changed,
[27:42] and it's kind of a dynamic environment we're in now. And I'm just wondering,
[27:46] like, we understand these are guidelines, they're not regulations, they're not policies,
[27:51] but How would this come forward
[27:55] to a developer with a proposal? Just a
[27:59] little bit on the process.
[28:05] I'll answer that one. Yeah, thank you,
[28:07] Brian. So I think you've hit the nail on the head.
[28:11] I mean, these are design guidelines. We don't have the
[28:14] teeth through regulatory tools to be able to require anything
[28:19] when it comes to the urban design side of things. But what we do do
[28:22] is early in the process, we encourage developers to meet with the town through
[28:27] pre-consultation meetings. So there,
[28:32] even the requirement for pre-consultation is no longer mandatory.
[28:35] So you're right, the rules keep changing. We do find though that most
[28:40] developers still choose to go through that process. It comes with a small
[28:43] fee, but it really flushes out issues,
[28:46] concerns, comments early in that process.
[28:50] And part of that review, we do take a look at our community design guidelines
[28:54] and take a look at opportunities for, you know, how could a concept
[28:58] plan, before we get too deep into the engineering design and commitments
[29:02] on certain matters, that the community design guidelines have been looked at.
[29:07] And in some recent pre-consultations, it's actually led
[29:10] to some significant some significant improvements, you know, whether it's being able
[29:14] to relocate park features, a lot of the gateway features that
[29:18] are in the proposed guidelines, things like that. You know,
[29:22] developers look at it and they're like, yeah, that's a great idea, we can do
[29:25] that. So we're going to continue to have those conversations,
[29:28] and again, it's trying to get in as early as possible before,
[29:32] you know, too much engineering design work gets done, and it's like, at that point,
[29:36] changes are much more difficult. So definitely as early as we
[29:50] Another related question, you've touched on it and Brian's question
[29:54] sort of dealt with it in part as well. The province's
[29:58] changes to the Planning Act that is encouraging additional
[30:02] residential units on residential lots,
[30:06] The earlier version of the guidelines didn't address that particularly because
[30:10] that was 15, 14 years ago, and we now have this new directive
[30:14] from the province. Are there specifics in
[30:18] the new guidelines that address the fact that both
[30:22] infill situations and structure conversions, I guess,
[30:26] for individual lots rather than subdivisions or neighborhoods,
[30:31] So somehow that's going to change, the guidelines will change to reflect
[30:35] the fact that the province is encouraging this more higher
[30:39] density, if you like, infill with the additional residential units.
[30:45] Yes. So a lot of this was making sure, because we worked
[30:49] on the official plan, so making sure that the housing types that were introduced through
[30:53] the official plan policies were captured in the guidelines.
[30:56] So under the residential section, there's new sections
[31:00] that we added. So there's a section on infill development and replacement housing,
[31:04] and then there's also a section on ADUs, so additional
[31:08] dwelling units. And a lot of it speaks to—
[31:12] I know the zoning bylaw has specific regulations for that as well,
[31:16] but there are specific guidelines that we've added that speak to the
[31:21] compatibility with the original dwelling. And whether it's included
[31:25] within the building itself or as a separate unit. So that we have
[31:30] added new sections to address those built forms.
[31:38] Another process question would just
[31:41] be, during the official plan process, we talked a lot about
[31:46] the possibility of CPPS, the community Planning Permit
[31:49] System. How would this work
[31:54] with that if that were to be implemented?
[32:02] Yeah, you never give up an opportunity
[32:05] to bring it up, right, the CPP? So it's good, it's great.
[32:11] So yeah, as part of usually the CPP
[32:14] bylaws we work on, there's a guideline component that
[32:18] goes along with it. So, I think through
[32:22] the CPP process, there are more opportunities to actually
[32:26] apply the guidelines. So, we know
[32:30] that site plan opportunities, we can't really apply the guidelines
[32:34] in certain elements. So, with— through the CPP process,
[32:39] you have more teeth essentially to use the guidelines for wherever a CPP
[32:44] is. Is implemented.
[32:50] Any more questions? No? Okay.
[32:54] I was just going to say that it's important to note that
[32:58] the document will be endorsed by Council, so they support
[33:02] what's in there, and that's important regardless of
[33:07] what the province is doing. Most most
[33:11] developers or people that are coming to do work respect
[33:15] that and they want to follow the process,
[33:19] right? It's those outliers that— Yeah.
[33:22] The pre-consultation, speaking through it,
[33:28] it's so important. And most people,
[33:31] like Sean said, and you see that in other municipalities, most people,
[33:35] they want to go through that process because They want a smooth
[33:38] application, so they want to know upfront what they're required
[33:43] to do. And so, from that perspective,
[33:46] I don't think there's been that much of a change.
[33:50] It's just that those that would have pushed back before
[33:54] push back even more on certain things nowadays, but so.
[34:08] Still on that same theme, you talked about, and this is sort of directed to
[34:12] you also, Shawn, with major developments like a new subdivision,
[34:15] I understand they are given the guidelines and almost not directed
[34:19] to, but really encouraged to examine them and to develop
[34:23] their proposal in compatibility with them. Does that apply equally
[34:27] to someone that's bought a lot with a little cottage on it and they're going
[34:30] to do a teardown and build a new a new house, are individual lot applicants
[34:35] encouraged in the same way, or will they be with the new guidelines,
[34:39] to consider compatibility and all those other things in their design?
[34:44] And if not, shouldn't that be the case for infill and
[34:48] teardown replacements as well?
[34:53] I think there's two components to that.
[34:57] If they're coming in and they meet the zoning building
[35:01] requirements,
[35:04] they have no requirement to follow the guidelines, although staff
[35:09] would definitely direct them to the guidelines.
[35:13] It's where that infill then is
[35:16] triggering other matters like a minor variance,
[35:21] that type of thing, where staff then have a stronger
[35:25] ability to say, "You know, you're varying from what you're permitted
[35:30] to do, so here are the guidelines and please follow them." Yeah.
[35:37] Well, and just to add as well, I think, you know, when folks are coming
[35:40] in for an individual consent, for example, you know, they may not be aware of
[35:44] things like the additional dwelling units and how they're permitted as of right.
[35:49] And it may be of interest to some folks that are looking to do
[35:52] just sever a double lot, for example, for a future new home.
[35:56] So this document is great to be able to show them, you know, here's some
[36:00] design ideas in terms of how you design things like your entrance,
[36:03] you know, separate entrances and parking and just how you could
[36:07] lay out, you know, whatever it is you're looking to construct. And also how
[36:11] to work with the building department to make sure that, you know, the proper rough-ins
[36:14] and HVAC and all those other components are included with that design.
[36:19] Because yes, it's a slight increase in cost in terms of the initial construction
[36:23] cost to include something like an ADU, but it's substantially cheaper
[36:27] and more efficient to do it during the original construction process than to go
[36:30] back in afterwards and try to do that type of work. So, it's a
[36:34] great resource for those that also may not be aware of some enhancements
[36:39] that they can do to their own current plans.
[36:43] Maybe our applicants need awareness of it as a matter of course when they
[36:50] [Speaker:CHRIS] So applicants would be made aware of it if they're going through like a
[36:53] consent process or minor variance, yes. If they're just coming in
[36:58] for a building permit, they may not be made aware of it.
[37:02] Perhaps the designer or the architect
[37:06] may look to those types of things, but unless
[37:10] it's triggering a planning application and sort of discussion and
[37:14] back and forth with the planning department, It'll be a resource
[37:18] that's available. It's gonna be promoted throughout the town, but not everyone may
[37:22] be aware of it, but we'll try to make it available. I was gonna say,
[37:25] is that a missed opportunity for all we do need
[37:29] to be at a stage where they
[37:33] can't— some of the guidelines,
[37:36] if they were aware of it. Yeah.
[37:48] Okay, then thank you for your questions and the discussion this evening.
[37:53] If anyone was unable to tonight, there's still opportunity to provide
[37:57] feedback, and I would like to note that we also have
[38:00] a public meeting on April 21st, and this meeting will be
[38:04] another opportunity to hear more, more about the proposal and
[38:07] share your comments. And if anyone was unable
[38:10] to attend tonight, the meeting will be posted on the town's
[38:14] website. And with that, I would like to thank you everyone for
[38:18] joining tonight, and we really appreciate you taking the time to come out.
[38:22] And before you leave, please engage with staff and consultants, and to make
[38:26] sure your feedback is recorded, please write it on the sticky notes and
[38:30] paste it on any of the boards. Thank you.