Yellowknife to hold two zoning bylaw open houses online
The City of Yellowknife will hold online open houses on September 22 and 23 to discuss the draft of the city’s new zoning bylaw.
The zoning bylaw is the tool used by the city to implement its broader community plan, approved last year, which guides how Yellowknife is developed over the next 20 years. A new plan means a new zoning bylaw is needed.
When that community plan was finalized, Mayor Rebecca Alty told Cabin Radio the updated zoning bylaw would get into the “nitty gritty” of which activities are permitted in each area of the city.
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A draft of the new zoning bylaw was released last month.
The city says its new bylaw is shorter, clearer, and easier to use. The new bylaw uses fewer city zones, allows urban agriculture, and changes how parking works in the city’s downtown. Zoning in Kam Lake has been updated to streamline regulations and allow land uses like agriculture, brewing and distilling, cannabis production and distribution, and convenience stores.
On Wednesday, September 22, an online open house from 6pm till 8pm will examine how the bylaw affects Yellowknife’s downtown and central residential zones, and how infill and densification will work.
The city prefers infill – building in existing downtown gap – to construction in new areas, in part because infill property usually costs less for the municipality to service.
On Thursday, September 23, an online open house from 6pm till 8pm will examine agriculture, industrial land uses in Kam Lake and the Engle Business District, and the new approach to parking.
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“Open option” parking doesn’t affect street parking. Instead, the city said, it “gives developers more flexibility to determine the number of parking spaces they require.” In practice, that means developers can reduce the amount of parking they provide per building, making it easier to build infill properties in the downtown.
You can read a range of city factsheets about the new zoning bylaw on the city’s website. (For example, the parking one is here.)
To participate in an open house, register by emailing the city or calling (867) 920-5614 before 12pm on Tuesday.
Recordings of the open houses will be available on the city’s website.
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The deadline to provide comment to the city about the new bylaw is October 1.