{"id":9401,"date":"2025-10-31T15:22:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T18:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=9401"},"modified":"2025-10-31T15:22:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T18:22:25","slug":"queens-councillors-vote-for-comprehensive-review-of-land-use-bylaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2025\/10\/31\/queens-councillors-vote-for-comprehensive-review-of-land-use-bylaw\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens councillors vote for ‘comprehensive review’ of land use bylaw"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Region of Queens Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton wants a ‘comprehensive review’ of the municipal planning strategy and land use bylaw. (Rick Conrad)<\/p><\/div>\n

Region of Queens councillors are considering an overhaul of the rules that govern what people and businesses do with their properties.<\/span><\/p>\n

Regional council voted unanimously on Tuesday evening in favour of Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton\u2019s motion for a \u201ccomprehensive review\u201d of the municipal planning strategy and land use bylaw “<\/span>with particular focus on commercial uses and allowances within residential zones, regulation and permitting of short-term rentals, the keeping of livestock within residential and rural zones, light pollution mitigation and related dark sky considerations, coastal protection measures and climate resilient land use provisions, and minimum property standards.”<\/span><\/p>\n

She said she wants staff to prepare a report in time for the Dec. 9 council meeting “outlining proposed consultation timelines, engagement methods and anticipated resource requirements to support this review process.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The municipality adopted a new planning strategy and bylaw in 2022<\/a> after three and a half years of review and community consultation. Charlton was a member of council for that process.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had some things pop up that are proving to be challenging,” Charlton said, “other things that I think maybe we didn’t think of during that timeframe. \u2026 I think we do need to address the issues in our land use bylaw.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Charlton didn\u2019t offer specifics, but councillors have wrestled since the spring with a request to turn the old Stedman\u2019s building<\/a> at 194 Main St. into apartments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Developer Eric Fry originally wanted the building to be only residential, despite municipal rules that require at least half of a downtown building\u2019s ground floor be for commercial use.<\/span><\/p>\n

The region is in the process of changing the land use bylaw to allow Fry to include a much smaller commercial footprint.<\/span><\/p>\n

Charlton, who chairs the municipality\u2019s planning advisory committee, told councillors that some people want more flexibility to open businesses in their houses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, the land use bylaw essentially prohibits retail and other commercial operations in residential zones, though there are some exceptions for artists and other small home-based businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think some of our measures are a bit too strict and they’re restricting economic development in Queens,” Charlton said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mayor Scott Christian said it\u2019s standard practice to review a new bylaw after two years. Plus, he said, residents have raised concerns with parts of the bylaw that he says are \u201cclunky\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn this term of council we\u2019re really focusing on making sure we\u2019re striking that balance to foster a business friendly environment, to addressing affordability issues. And I think some provisions within the municipal planning strategy and land use bylaw don\u2019t resonate entirely with the strategic vision and direction that this council wants to take the organization.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He said council wants professional advice from staff on a \u201claundry list of items\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c(The bylaw) doesn\u2019t do enough to give us a strong sense and deliberate approach to managing short-term rentals. It doesn\u2019t strike the right balance in its approach to homesteading. It\u2019s too blunt in its restrictions of the type of commercial activity that can happen in general residential areas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2022, many residents cried foul<\/a> over proposed changes to homesteading rules. People who kept chickens or small numbers of other animals on their properties were worried that the bylaw would interfere with their ability to produce food for themselves and others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those concerns overshadowed many of the other significant changes in the comprehensive bylaw overhaul.<\/span><\/p>\n

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to the audio version of this story below<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/landusebylawreviewfulloct3125.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Region of Queens councillors are considering an overhaul of the rules that govern what people and businesses do with their properties. Regional council voted unanimously on Tuesday evening in favour of Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton\u2019s motion for a \u201ccomprehensive review\u201d of the municipal planning strategy and land use bylaw “with particular focus on commercial uses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[3011,1608,1794,1900,724,671,3536,39,95,3537,3168,226,1646,3014],"class_list":["post-9401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-194-main-st","tag-business","tag-coastal-protection","tag-downtown-liverpool","tag-homesteading","tag-land-use-bylaw","tag-light-pollution","tag-liverpool","tag-maddie-charlton","tag-minimum-property-standards","tag-municipal-planning-strategy","tag-scott-christian","tag-short-term-rentals","tag-stedmans-building"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9401"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9404,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9401\/revisions\/9404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}