New rules could open the door for Milton's urban homeowners to build more Additional Residential Units (ARUs), up from one to a maximum of three units per lot.
During last week’s council meeting, council heard recommendations from staff on the proposed changes to ARUs — also referred to as secondary suites, basement apartments, tiny homes, laneway houses or granny flats. The report comes in response to mandates from the provincial and federal governments to increase housing supply.
This requires amendments in zoning bylaw regulations and Official Plan policies.
At the meeting, Jill Hogan, the Town’s commissioner of development services, said that ARUs are not rooming houses.
“We’re talking about self-contained units — meaning, they have their own kitchen and their own washroom facilities,” she said.
The ARUs must meet all criteria set by the Town.
They can be located within a house, whether a single, a semi or a townhouse — or they can be a standalone building in the rear yard or the side yard if the lot can support it, Hogan noted. The units also must have municipal water and sewage servicing — with proper site drainage.
Here’s more of the regulations:
- Maximum three additional residential units on a lot.
- One parking space for the principal dwelling unit plus one parking space for each ARU.
- Minimum size of a required parking space on a driveway shall be 2.55 metres wide by 5.5 metres in length.
- An unobstructed access with a minimum width of 1.2 metres and minimum vertical clearance of 2.1 metres from the street line to the primary entrance of an ARU for fire and emergency service access.
- Gross floor area of not more than 10 per cent of the lot area or 110 square metres, whichever is less.
- Only one dwelling unit on a lot may be used as a short-term rental.
Hogan added that one of the biggest things the OP amendment is recommending is that the extra dwelling units must be registered with the Town.
“What the licensing will do is it will allow us as a municipality to know how many units are within a house,” Hogan said.
When asked by Coun. John Challinor about the potential strain on existing infrastructure, such as water and sewer capacity, Hogan stated they are working with the Halton Region throughout the process.
“They do have a prescribed amount of accessory dwelling units that they plug into their model that they're using for their updated water and wastewater study that’s underway,” Hogan said.
After opening the floors to the public, many expressed their support, with one resident highlighting that the proposed changes can help “make housing more accessible and affordable for all members of the community.”
Council will consider the recommendation report for approval in June.
Additionally, town staff plan to conduct a full analysis on permitting additional residential units in rural Milton, with a report expected in the fall.