Zoning Updates

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Engagement for this project is now closed. This zoning by-law amendment was approved on February 27, 2024 and the project is now complete. Thank you for your participation!

Section 34 of the Planning Act allows a municipality to create a Zoning By-Law, like the one in the County of Brant (By-Law 61-16). This by-law, established in 2017, helps put the goals of the Official Plan into action. The purpose of making technical and housekeeping changes to the Zoning By-Law is to improve its relevance, fix small issues, and ensure it aligns with the Official Plan and provincial policies. Regular updates maintain a responsive zoning framework that meets the County's evolving needs.

This project does not involve site-specific rezoning's for individual properties. It proposes general changes to County-wide zoning provisions that will make the By-Law easier to understand.

Staff are continually monitoring changes needed for the Zoning By-Law, considering them for future housekeeping projects. The County's brand new Comprehensive Zoning By-Law will be a separate project that will commence when the County's new Official Plan is approved by the Province.

The chart below contains a list of proposed changes for the next housekeeping project that will be presented to the Planning and Development Committee to be adopted by Council before the end of February 2024.

Summary of proposed changes

Key Items

Summary of proposed changes

Improving Parking OpportunitiesThe parking zoning study presented two housekeeping changes to improve parking opportunities in new subdivision as follows:
  • Remove the front-yard landscaped open space requirement to allow for additional parking on private property
  • Remove a 1.8m requirement for separation between houses to allow pairing of driveways and increase the space in between for on-street parking purposes.
Dwelling Units and Accessory StructuresPreparing for the new Zoning By-Law and expanding housing options, these preliminary minor changes will align provisions with the Building Code and clarify permissions for ARUs in certain situations.
Protecting and Prioritizing AgricultureFurther to the updates made during the 6th and 7th housekeeping, minor changes are proposed to provide additional direction and clarity that aligns with the OMAFRA Guidelines on Permitted Uses in Ontario’s Prime Agricultural Areas.
Home-Based Business Pilot Project
  • To align with the new Zoning By-Law project and provide time for additional public input, the temporary permissions will be extended to 2026 to assist business owners benefitting from this framework.
Improving Implementation and Addressing Errors
  • These changes will remove redundancies, address errors, and align provisions with the policies of the Official Plan.
  • They will also help improve implementation for development review and enforcement purposes.


Stay Informed

Scroll down to see the news feed of information as well as links to engage, a timeline of events, and more.

Subscribe for updates and be the first to learn more information about this project. Add your email to the Stay Informed box on this page and click ‘Subscribe'.

Section 34 of the Planning Act allows a municipality to create a Zoning By-Law, like the one in the County of Brant (By-Law 61-16). This by-law, established in 2017, helps put the goals of the Official Plan into action. The purpose of making technical and housekeeping changes to the Zoning By-Law is to improve its relevance, fix small issues, and ensure it aligns with the Official Plan and provincial policies. Regular updates maintain a responsive zoning framework that meets the County's evolving needs.

This project does not involve site-specific rezoning's for individual properties. It proposes general changes to County-wide zoning provisions that will make the By-Law easier to understand.

Staff are continually monitoring changes needed for the Zoning By-Law, considering them for future housekeeping projects. The County's brand new Comprehensive Zoning By-Law will be a separate project that will commence when the County's new Official Plan is approved by the Province.

The chart below contains a list of proposed changes for the next housekeeping project that will be presented to the Planning and Development Committee to be adopted by Council before the end of February 2024.

Summary of proposed changes

Key Items

Summary of proposed changes

Improving Parking OpportunitiesThe parking zoning study presented two housekeeping changes to improve parking opportunities in new subdivision as follows:
  • Remove the front-yard landscaped open space requirement to allow for additional parking on private property
  • Remove a 1.8m requirement for separation between houses to allow pairing of driveways and increase the space in between for on-street parking purposes.
Dwelling Units and Accessory StructuresPreparing for the new Zoning By-Law and expanding housing options, these preliminary minor changes will align provisions with the Building Code and clarify permissions for ARUs in certain situations.
Protecting and Prioritizing AgricultureFurther to the updates made during the 6th and 7th housekeeping, minor changes are proposed to provide additional direction and clarity that aligns with the OMAFRA Guidelines on Permitted Uses in Ontario’s Prime Agricultural Areas.
Home-Based Business Pilot Project
  • To align with the new Zoning By-Law project and provide time for additional public input, the temporary permissions will be extended to 2026 to assist business owners benefitting from this framework.
Improving Implementation and Addressing Errors
  • These changes will remove redundancies, address errors, and align provisions with the policies of the Official Plan.
  • They will also help improve implementation for development review and enforcement purposes.


Stay Informed

Scroll down to see the news feed of information as well as links to engage, a timeline of events, and more.

Subscribe for updates and be the first to learn more information about this project. Add your email to the Stay Informed box on this page and click ‘Subscribe'.

Engagement for this project is now closed. This zoning by-law amendment was approved on February 27, 2024 and the project is now complete. Thank you for your participation!

Do you have questions about the zoning updates presented? Let us know below.

  • Share What is an ARU and OMAFRA? on Facebook Share What is an ARU and OMAFRA? on Twitter Share What is an ARU and OMAFRA? on Linkedin Email What is an ARU and OMAFRA? link

    What is an ARU and OMAFRA?

    Guod asked 10 months ago

    Thanks for your question. An ARU is an Additional Residential Unit, which is a type of small-scale housing. There's some more information available about ARUs at www.brant.ca/ARU. OMAFRA refers to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and there's information available about this Ministry of the Provincial government at https://omafra.gov.on.ca/. 

    Brandon Kortleve
    Planner - Policy Planning


  • Share My concern is with the Key Item "Home-Based Business Pilot Project". My wife and I moved to Paris 16 years ago. At the time I had a small computer consulting business. In looking through the county by-laws of the day I was pleased to see that not only could I run a home-based business but could actually place a modest sign on our front lawn advertising it. We are both retired now and my wife does pottery as a hobby. She participates in sales events from time to time, but would like to be able to sell her pottery from our home. The "pilot project" wording seems to suggest that the by-laws changed without our knowledge and it is no longer legal to operate a home-based business in Brant, but that it is being tried as a "pilot". Do the proposed zoning updates include banning home-based businesses? on Facebook Share My concern is with the Key Item "Home-Based Business Pilot Project". My wife and I moved to Paris 16 years ago. At the time I had a small computer consulting business. In looking through the county by-laws of the day I was pleased to see that not only could I run a home-based business but could actually place a modest sign on our front lawn advertising it. We are both retired now and my wife does pottery as a hobby. She participates in sales events from time to time, but would like to be able to sell her pottery from our home. The "pilot project" wording seems to suggest that the by-laws changed without our knowledge and it is no longer legal to operate a home-based business in Brant, but that it is being tried as a "pilot". Do the proposed zoning updates include banning home-based businesses? on Twitter Share My concern is with the Key Item "Home-Based Business Pilot Project". My wife and I moved to Paris 16 years ago. At the time I had a small computer consulting business. In looking through the county by-laws of the day I was pleased to see that not only could I run a home-based business but could actually place a modest sign on our front lawn advertising it. We are both retired now and my wife does pottery as a hobby. She participates in sales events from time to time, but would like to be able to sell her pottery from our home. The "pilot project" wording seems to suggest that the by-laws changed without our knowledge and it is no longer legal to operate a home-based business in Brant, but that it is being tried as a "pilot". Do the proposed zoning updates include banning home-based businesses? on Linkedin Email My concern is with the Key Item "Home-Based Business Pilot Project". My wife and I moved to Paris 16 years ago. At the time I had a small computer consulting business. In looking through the county by-laws of the day I was pleased to see that not only could I run a home-based business but could actually place a modest sign on our front lawn advertising it. We are both retired now and my wife does pottery as a hobby. She participates in sales events from time to time, but would like to be able to sell her pottery from our home. The "pilot project" wording seems to suggest that the by-laws changed without our knowledge and it is no longer legal to operate a home-based business in Brant, but that it is being tried as a "pilot". Do the proposed zoning updates include banning home-based businesses? link

    My concern is with the Key Item "Home-Based Business Pilot Project". My wife and I moved to Paris 16 years ago. At the time I had a small computer consulting business. In looking through the county by-laws of the day I was pleased to see that not only could I run a home-based business but could actually place a modest sign on our front lawn advertising it. We are both retired now and my wife does pottery as a hobby. She participates in sales events from time to time, but would like to be able to sell her pottery from our home. The "pilot project" wording seems to suggest that the by-laws changed without our knowledge and it is no longer legal to operate a home-based business in Brant, but that it is being tried as a "pilot". Do the proposed zoning updates include banning home-based businesses?

    RickOBrien asked 10 months ago

    Thank you for your question. When the County transitioned from the 2001 Zoning By-law to the 2016 By-law, home businesses were still allowed but the permissions did become more restrictive over time. The County recognized that these restrictions weren't necessarily helpful and after some research done in 2020 to support business owners in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Planning and Economic Development brought forward this pilot project to reinstate more flexible permissions. The pilot project has been a  great success and Council intends to make the flexible permissions permanent. The County of Brant will be writing a new Zoning By-Law in the next two or so years, which is when we intend to make the pilot project permanent. This will also provide the opportunity to get out into the community to get more feedback from the public on home businesses and many other topics. The proposed updates do not ban home-business. The change will keep the permissions in place until we write our new zoning by-law. 

    If you'd like some more information on the home based business pilot project, here is a link to additional info on the County's website, www.brant.ca/en/business-in-brant/resources/Documents/Home-Based-Business--EcDev--One-Pager.pdf 


    Brandon Kortleve
    Planner - Policy Planning

    home based business
    home based business