In what will be the last city council meeting of 2020, the horseshoe will look at a couple of planning questions before saying “goodbye” for the holidays. On the one hand, will council save a nearly 200-year-old farmhouse in the south end? And on the other hand, is it about to get easier to build an accessory apartment to help tackle Guelph’s housing issue?

NOTE #1: Delegates will be able to appear at this meeting via telephone, but you do have to register with the clerks office before 10 am on December 11. You can also submit written delegations and correspondences for agenda items.

NOTE #2: The meeting will be closed to the public, though it will be live-streamed on the City of Guelph’s website here.

CLOSED MEETING: Council will meet in closed session to discuss the following matter due to “litigation or potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals, affecting the municipality or local board and advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose.”

1. 132 Clair Road West Local Planning Appeal Tribunal – Update

264 Crawley Road: Notice of Intention to Designate under section 29, Park IV of the Ontario Heritage Act – Industrial Equities Guelph Corporation, which owns the property on which sits an old farmhouse at 264 Crawley Road, applied to tear that old house down back in October. Not so fast, said the City of Guelph because that nearly 170-year-old farmhouse has some serious cultural and historical attributes that the City would like to preserve even though it’s now almost entirely surrounded by commercial and industrial land. Staff are recommending that the clerk publish notice that 264 Crawley will be designated a heritage property, and that the bylaw be brought forward for council approved in 30 days assuming there will be no objections.

Decision Report for Additional Residential Unit Review: Planning Act Update OPA No. 72 Zoning By-Law Amendment File: 0ZS20-02 – Back in July, council heard from staff about the proposed OPA (Official Plan Amendment) #72, which laid out new standards and guidelines for accessory apartments and secondary units like basement apartments and garden suites. Since July, staff have made some amendments based on public feedback like allowing only one additional unit in the primary dwelling that’s a maximum size of 45 per cent of the total floor area, and has  a maximum of three bedrooms. Another new change is that basement apartments can now take up the entire area of the basement. It terms of separate units, they can now only take up 30 per cent of the yard space, and can only have a maximum of two bedrooms. Those accessory units will also have a maximum height of two storeys, or 6.1 metres, but they can not be taller than the primary dwelling.