As mentioned in previous updates, amendments toward 3-3-3-1 permitting targets were adopted and are to come into effect on April 1, 2025. This include updates to remove regulations related to Horizontal Angle of Daylight requirements, area limits for discretionary building roof elements that exceed maximum building height and acoustic requirements. 

More information can be found in the motion or full report from City staff on February 4th. 

August 1, 2024

On February 4th, Council approved various amendments in principle to improve permitting timelines. Many amendments came as directions from the July 2024 Council meeting, but additional updates are also proposed. 

The proposed updates as directed in July 2024 include: 

• Horizontal Angle of Daylight:
• Remove regulations on this, including complex calculations and significant building separation requirements that often require discretionary variances. Existing yard, setback, and window requirements are sufficient to ensure access to natural light in habitable rooms.  
• Alongside a range of interrelated apartment design parameters such as bedroom mix requirements, staff are exploring further regulation changes through the Apartment Living work program and anticipate reporting back to Council by Q1 of 2026.
• Area Limits for Rooftop Elements:
• The initial report proposed removing the 10% maximum rooftop area limit for mechanical equipment and elevator machine rooms that project above the normal height limit that applies to the site. After further internal review, it is proposed that the 10% roof area limit be removed completely to simplify the regulations and provide additional efficiencies by reducing staff time needed to complete calculations and discretionary variances.
• Acoustic Report Submission:
• The City proposes to eliminate acoustic report requirements for residential developments, as they add unnecessary costs and delays without providing practical benefits early in the design process. The reports originally intended to recommend noise mitigation measures but are often required before key building elements like window and wall assemblies are even determined. Additionally, advancements in building technology have reduced their necessity. As a result, the section which outlines these requirements will be removed.  
• Districts with an “N” in the title, which indicate compliance with these regulations, will be rezoned to their corresponding base districts without affecting other regulations. This change will streamline zoning and reduce the number of distinct districts by 17. 

Additional proposed amendments include: 

• Floor Area Exclusions for In-suite Storage:
• The City currently exempts up to 3.7 m² of in-suite storage per unit from floor area calculations in many districts. However, staff must verify past approvals when renovating existing units, which can be complex. To simplify this process and allow more renovation flexibility, a new provision is proposed to maintain the original storage exemption, even if the space is repurposed. This exemption would only apply after two years of occupancy to ensure it benefits private owners making renovations.
• Relaxations to Support and Expedite the Delivery of Public Projects
• The city is proposing zoning relaxations to speed up the development of essential public facilities. Currently, many of these projects must go through rezoning or the Board of Variance because zoning rules were designed for typical uses, such as residential buildings. To address this, the city plans to expand an existing relaxation policy (previously applied to schools) to include more public facilities. This would allow the Director of Planning or the Development Permit Board to grant exceptions for height, density, and setbacks, making it easier to develop these critical projects. 

More information can be found in the full report by City staff. 

August 1, 2024

On July 9th, Council received a report for information providing a status update on the 3-3-3-1 Permitting Targets and directed staff to prepare a report for consideration at Public Hearing regarding various regulatory changes to advance progress on the targets. Over the past three years, staff have significantly improved permitting times for renovations and new low-density housing.  

The report noted that higher-density housing has had slower progress, and three regulatory changes have been proposed to improve permitting times directly: 

• Eliminating the Horizontal Angle of Daylight regulation from all district schedules;
• Remove the 10% maximum roof top area limit for mechanical equipment and elevator machine rooms that project above the normal height limit that applies to the site; and
• Remove the current requirement to submit an acoustical report at the time of Development Permit (DP) application submission for residential uses in various districts across the city. 

Staff noted some potential recommended changes for the future focusing on inboard/borrowed light bedrooms, balcony requirements and guidelines, and in-suite storage exclusions from FSR calculations. 

Construction costs have increased considerably in recent years, meaning more renovation projects hit the threshold requiring sprinkler installation. This ultimately lengthens permit timelines. As a result, staff were instructed to prepare amendments to institute a minimum threshold of $250,000 for sprinkler upgrades in existing residential buildings.  

More information can be found in the status update, regulatory changes, and sprinkler upgrade exemption reports by City staff.