This letter constitutes…

This letter constitutes formal comments from the County of Perth for ERO Number 019-3210, posted to the Environmental Registry of Ontario on September 23, 2024. It is Perth County’s understanding that the Minister is consulting on a proposal that will increase maximum lot coverage, overriding requirements relating to angular planes, minimum lot size, and floor space index, and restricting building distance separation requirements proposed regulation under the Planning Act to facilitate the creation of additional residential units (ARUs).

Council and staff have reviewed the changes proposed to Ontario Regulation 299/19 regarding the implementation of ARU’s and have considered the impacts of the policy changes on the establishment of new ARU’s within the County of Perth.

In considering the proposed regulation changes from a Perth County context, we respectfully provide the following comments for consideration:

1. Redevelopment of Existing Ancillary Buildings for ARU purposes
The proposed provisions for O.Reg. 299/19 include the restriction of building distance separation associated with any building containing ARUs to a maximum of 4 metres. In Perth County’s settlement areas, it is not uncommon for garages and other ancillary structures to be located between 10 to 20 metres away from the primary building. The County of Perth has concern that the restriction in building separation would limit the ability for existing garages or accessory structures to be converted for residential purposes.

2. Building Code Compliance
The proposed building distance separation requirements will also create design and renovation challenges for ARU’s related to lot grading, drainage, and fire safety. Appropriate lot grading and lot drainage will be harder to achieve with the building separation maximum of 4 metres. Further, the reduced building separation requirements creates additional challenges and limitations in meeting section of the Building Code related to glass openings (i.e. windows and doors). The distance limitation proposed will make it harder to design Additional Residential Units with sufficient natural light, sightlines, and exits to satisfy other parts of the building code, specifically Division B, Part 9 of the Building Code, as follows:
• 9.10.14 Spatial Separation Between Buildings
• 9.10.14.4 Openings in Exposing Building Face
• 9.9 Means of Egress
• 9.9.9 Egress from Dwelling Units
• 9.9.10 Egress from Bedrooms
• 9.7.2.3 Minimum Window Areas

As the conversion of existing buildings is a frequent type of ARU seen in Perth County, there is concern from the County perspective that the building separation provision proposed to O.Reg. 299/19 will discourage the creation of ARU’s. It is the opinion of County Planning and Municipal Building Staff that the introduction of this regulation may be counterproductive to getting more applications for Additional Residential Units and the intent of adding more homes in Perth County’s settlement areas may be difficult to achieve.

The above-noted comments have been discussed by Perth County Council and endorsed for submission to the Ministry for consideration regarding the important amendments proposed through ERO Number 019-3210.