Process & Participation for Committee of Adjustment

Meetings are held Thursdays at 1 pm and are typically held 3 times per month or as required.

Committees Role

The committee can make minor variances to the City of Hamilton’s Zoning By-law to allow:

• Enlargements extensions or changes to legal nonconforming uses
• A parcel of land to be split into more than one lot or as a lot addition to abutting lands
• Mortgages, partial discharge of mortgages, validation of title, access right-of-ways, easements and leases over 21 years

There are four main criteria that the committee reviews when making a decision including determining if:

• The variance is minor
• It is desirable for the appropriate development or use of the land, building or structure
• The general intent and purpose of the by-law(s) is maintained
• The Official Plan is maintained

Written Submission Ahead of the Meeting

Members of the public who would like to participate in a Committee of Adjustment (COA) meeting are able to provide comments in writing in advance of the meeting. Comments must be received by noon two days before the meeting.

Comments can be submitted in two ways:

Oral Submission During the Meeting

Members of the public are also able to provide oral comments regarding Committee of Adjustment Hearing items by participating through Webex via computer or phone. Participation in this format requires pre-registration in advance. Interested members of the public must register by noon the day before the hearing.

To register to participate by Webex either via computer or phone, please contact COA staff by email [email protected] or call 905-546-2424 ext. 4221.

This information is required to register:

• Committee of Adjustment file number that you wish to speak to
• the hearing date
• name and address of the person wishing to speak
• if they will be connecting via phone or video (if applicable the phone number they will be using to call in) 
• a separate registration for each person wishing to speak is required.

Upon registering for a meeting, members of the public will be emailed a link for the Webex meeting the Wednesday afternoon before the hearing. The link must not be shared with others as it is unique to the registrant.

All members of the public who register will be contacted by Committee Staff to confirm details of the registration prior to the Hearing and provide an overview of the public participation process.

Note: Webex (video) participation requires either a compatible computer or smartphone and an application (app/program) must be downloaded by the interested party in order to participate. It is the interested party’s responsibility to ensure that their device is compatible and operating correctly prior to the Hearing.