Downtown Hamilton

Notice of Statutory Public Meeting of the Planning Committee
Tuesday, April 17, 2018

The Planning Committee is holding a Public Meeting under the Planning Act to consider changes to the Urban Hamilton Official Plan, City of Hamilton Official Plan and Zoning By-law 05-200 Downtown Zones to implement a new Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan.

Why? The Amendments will establish land use designations, heights, development forms, urban design policies, transportation policies, and development regulations and standards for the Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan in order to guide development in the Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan area.

Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment for the Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan (Wards 2 and 3)

Note: There have been minor revisions to the documents before Planning Commitee. The revisions are summarized and highighted in this Summary of Revisions (PDF, 2 MB).

Prefer to review in person? All documents are available for viewing at City Hall, 71 Main Street West, Hamilton, 5th Floor.

Planning Committee

Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2018 | View the Agenda
Time: 9:30 am
Location: City Hall, Council Chambers

To register as a delegation or provide comments at the Public Meeting

Written comments: If you wish to submit comments for inclusion in the Agenda for the April 17, 2018 Public Meeting, contact the Legislative Co-ordinator for the Planning Committee. Deadline for inclusion is 12 noon on Monday, April 16, 2018. Any comments received after this date will be included in the Council agenda.

Presentation:  If you are interested in making a presentation at the Public Meeting, you will need to pre-register as a delegation by no later than 12 noon on Monday, April 16, 2018 by contacting the Legislative Co-ordinator for the Planning Committee.

Ida Bedioui
Legislative Co-ordinator for the Planning Committee
City Clerks Office
1st Floor, 71 Main Street West
Hamilton, Ontario, L8P 4Y5
Email: ida.bedioui@hamilton.ca

Request a Notice of Decision

If you wish to be notified of the decision of the City of Hamilton on the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment, you must make a written request to the Co-ordinator, Planning Committee, 71 Main Street West, 1st Floor, Hamilton, Ontario, L8P 4Y5.

Information respecting these amendments is being collected under the authority of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.P.13. All comments and opinions submitted to the City of Hamilton on these matters, including the name, address and contact information of
persons submitting comments and/or opinions, will become part of the public record and will be made available to the general public and will appear on the City’s website unless you expressly request within your communication that City remove your personal information.

Appeals: In accordance with the provisions of the Planning Act,

Official Plan Amendment
i. If a person or public body would otherwise have an ability to appeal the decision of the Council of the City of Hamilton to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal but the person or public body does not make oral submissions at the public meeting or make written submissions to the City of Hamilton before the proposed official plan amendment is adopted, the person or public body is not entitled to appeal the decision.
ii. If a person or public body does not make oral submissions at a public meeting or make written submissions to the City of Hamilton before the proposed Official Plan amendment is adopted, the person or public body may not be added as a party to the hearing of an appeal before the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal unless, in the opinion of the Tribunal, there are reasonable grounds to add the person or public body as a party.

Zoning By-law Amendment
i. If a person or public body would otherwise have an ability to appeal the decision of the Council of the City of Hamilton to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal but the person or public body does not make oral submissions at a public meeting or makewritten submissions to the City of Hamilton before the by-law is passed, the person or public body is not entitled to appeal the decision.
ii. If a person or public body does not make oral submissions at a public meeting or make written submissions to the City of Hamilton before the proposed by-law is passed, the person or public body may not be added as a party to the hearing of an appeal before the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal unless, in the opinion of the Tribunal, there are reasonable grounds to do so.

 

The Downtown Secondary Plan, “Putting People First: The New Land Use Plan for Downtown Hamilton” was the first formal plan for the Downtown core, approved in 2001. The Secondary Plan contains the goals, actions, policies and implementation of the direction for Downtown Hamilton. 

Location: The Plan area is bounded by Cannon Street to the north, Wellington Street to the east, Hunter Street to the South and Queen Street to the west. It contains parts of four downtown neighbourhoods: Beasley, Central, Corktown and Durand.

Status: Public Open House was held on Feb. 13, 2017 to present the draft updated land use plan and zoning.

Map of the Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan

 

Project Update - March 29, 2018: Proposed Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan, Downtown Zones & Utility Zone, Tall Buildings Study & Guidelines

Following extensive consultation, additional revisions have been made to the Proposed Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan, Downtown Zones & Utility Zone, and the Tall Buildings Study and Guidelines.

Changes to the Proposed Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan and Downtown Zoning By-law since the March 19, 2018 release

Changes have been made to the Proposed Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan policies and Downtown Zones. These changes are administrative in nature and do not change the intent of the proposed policies or zoning.

There has been one housekeeping change to the Secondary Plan document that occurred after the March 19, 2018 release to the public. The text has not changed. A renumbering of policies has been carried out:

Existing Policy Number in March 2018 Renumbered to the Following Policy Number
6.1.4.7 6.1.4.5
6.1.4.8 6.1.4.6
6.1.4.9 6.1.4.7
6.1.4.5 6.1.4.8
6.1.4.6 6.1.4.9

These changes have been made to the amending Zoning By-law:

Section Proposed Change New Wording Rationale
6.0 c) ii) Add the words “except any flankage lot line” after the words “rear lot lines”. “A minimum 3.0 metre stepback shall be required for any portion of a building exceeding 22.0 metres in height from a side or rear lot line except any flankage lot line.” The intent was to apply the stepback to a lot line abutting another property. Where a lot line abuts a street no additional stepback is required.
6.0 c) iii) 2. Delete the words “from all other lot lines” and replace them with “from any side and rear lot line except any flankage lot line”. “Minimum 12.5 metres from all side and rear lot lines except any flankage lot line.” The intent was to apply the stepback to a lot line abutting another property. Where a lot line abuts a street no additional stepback is required.
6.1.1 The following uses have been added, in alphabetical order, to the list of permitted uses:
  • Commercial Parking Facility
  • Microbrewery
 n/a The uses were listed in Section 6.1.1.1 Restricted Uses and were not included in the list of Permitted Uses in error.  
6.1.2 The following uses have been added, in alphabetical order, to the list of permitted uses:
  • Commercial Parking Facility
 n/a The uses were listed in Section 6.2.1.1 Restricted Uses and were not included in the list of Permitted Uses in error.

Proposed Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan

Proposed Downtown Zones and Utility (U2) Zone

Other important documents

Questions? Any questions regarding the plan can be sent to downtownhamiltonreview@hamilton.ca.

 

Public Open House
Held February 13, 2017
Presented and explained the proposed updates to the Downtown Hamilton Secondary Plan and Zoning By-law. Display panels (PDF, 11 MB) | Presentation (PDF, 3 MB) | Secondary Plan map (PDF, 82 KB) | Comment sheet (PDF, 196 KB)

Draft Tall Buildings Study and Guidelines - Community Meeting and Workshop
Held April 27, 2016
Community meeting to present the draft Tall Building Study and Guidelines for public comment. Display Panels (PDF, 26 MB) | Presentation (PDF, 17 MB) | DRAFT Tall Building Study (PDF, 3.1 MB) | DRAFT Tall Building Guidelines (PDF, 3.3 MB)

Tall Buildings Study - Community Meeting and Workshop
Held May 26, 2015
Seeking public input for Tall Building Study about what the public thinks is tall within Hamilton, where the public thinks tall buildings should be located and how tall buildings can compliment the unique aspects of Downtown Hamilton. Display Panels (PDF, 44 MB) Presentation (PDF, 76 MB)

Public Information Centre #1
Held June 2011
Introduced the review of the Secondary Plan and gathered background information. Display Panels (PDF, 9.7 MB)

Draft Secondary Plan, Zoning By-law Tall Buildings Study & Guidelines - October 2017

Draft Secondary Plan, Zoning By-law Tall Buildings Study & Guidelines - May 2017

The Downtown Secondary Plan, “Putting People First: The New Land Use Plan for Downtown Hamilton” was the first formal plan for the Downtown core, approved in 2001. Prior to the Secondary Plan, the last plan for the downtown area was completed in 1988. The intent of the 1988 plan was to foster a dynamic mix of urban residential, commercial and institutional activities across the Downtown.

December 2014
Phase 5 - Tall Building Study

January 2013
Phase 4 - Policy review

January 2012
Phase 3 - Issue identification and visioning

October 2011
Phase 2 - Urban Growth Centre and Secondary Plan boundary expansion

August 2011
Phase 1 - Background review

Contact us

Alissa Mahood
Senior Project Manager
71 Main Street West, 5th Floor
Phone: 905-546-2424 ext. 1250
Email: downtownhamiltonreview@hamilton.ca

Shannon McKie
Senior Planner
71 Main Street West, 5th Floor
Phone: 905-546-2424 ext. 1288
Email: downtownhamiltonreview@hamilton.ca