ABCRA co-chaired the FoNTRA Garden Suite working group to review the proposal and recommended improvements to the proposed bylaw. The Garden Suites Working Group with a number of ABCRA board members was actively involved in consultations with City Planning staff regarding a wide range of considerations required to carefully insert garden suites in the backyards of homes across the City. We investigated the approaches of other jurisdictions and consulted planning professionals.
Garden Suite is a detached, generally smaller, housing unit, usually located in the rear yard of lots that are NOT located on a lane. A Garden Suite can be used by the property owner or rented out.
Not all lots can accommodate a Garden Suite. Depending on the lot dimensions, a Garden Suite could range in size from studio, to three bedrooms, and could be one or two stories high.
The City has approved the new Garden Suite Bylaw without any of the changes recommend by many Residents Associations. Some of these groups have formed an alliance and have appealed the decision to the OMB. No decision has been made.
The FONTRA Garden Suite Working Groups Recommendations
Photo: Billy Wilson – via CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED – 136 and 138 MacPherson
