CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS BOARDING HOUSE INTERIM CONTROL STUDY PUBLIC MEETING AND RECOMMENDATION JUNE 25, 2019 CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS BOARDING HOUSE INTERIM PURPOSE CONTROL STUDY
• Requests to add ‘Boarding or Rooming House’ as a permitted use through Minor Variance • One-off decisions on proposals for this use inappropriate in the absence of policy direction • Interim Control By-law Enacted • Study to examine the use of motels throughout the City providing long-term residential accommodation and develop a strategy on how to address and manage the use
CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS BOARDING HOUSE INTERIM PROCESS CONTROL STUDY
• Iterative process • Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) • Background Research • Contextual Analysis • Best Practice Scan • Stakeholder Interviews • Solutions Development Workshop • Options for Consideration
CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS BOARDING HOUSE INTERIM KEY STEPS CONTROL STUDY
• Review of Provincial Legislation- Provincial Policy Statement, Growth Plan, Building Code, Human Rights Code • Regional and Local policies and regulations- Regional Official Plan, Housing and Homelessness Action Plan, City of Niagara Falls Official Plan • Best Practice Approaches- provincial, national and international (U.S.) • Contextual Analysis- visual inventory of buildings, local economic factors, interviews with community agencies, local businesses/ BIAs
CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS BOARDING HOUSE INTERIM OPTIONS AND REVIEW CONTROL STUDY
• Several options provided for input and consideration – Complete conversion – Hybrid conversion – ‘Apartment Motel’ concept – Interim Conversion (maximum 10 years) • Demolition and conversion control also provided as an option for consideration CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS BOARDING HOUSE INTERIM RECOMMENDATION CONTROL STUDY
• November 2018 presentation to Council recommended ‘Full Conversion’ option • Council directed staff to – Obtain input from all Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) and other stakeholders – Obtain further input from local agencies – Survey the public via the City’s website – Hold a public information meeting
CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS BOARDING HOUSE INTERIM ADDITIONAL CONSULTATION CONTROL STUDY
• Facilitated workshop with BIAs and local agencies • Public Information Meeting • Online Survey • Telephone Interview- Niagara College • Telephone interview- Resident of a motel property • Site Visit and Interview- Carriage House Owner/ Operator
CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS BOARDING HOUSE INTERIM REVISIONS CONTROL STUDY
• Feedback from additional consultation resulted in revisions to the proposed recommendation and associated amendments – Prohibiting the use is not a viable option and would have implications for many parties AND/OR – Oversight and regulation is required for the use on a go-forward basis • Revisions include – Permit full or partial conversions to SROs – Remove demolition and conversion control – Regulations for additional oversight through Licensing
CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS BOARDING HOUSE INTERIM PROPOSED AMENDMENTS CONTROL STUDY
• Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment • Introduce new use and defined terms – Single Room Occupancy Building – Single Room Occupancy Unit • Introduce regulations for SROs through Zoning By-law and Licensing By-law • Permitted in existing motels located within the Tourist Commercial, General Commercial and Central Business Zones as well as 5551 Valley Way, 8675 Montrose Road and 8004 Lundy’s Lane • SRO Units shall not be considered residential dwelling units for the purposes of calculating density
CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS BOARDING HOUSE INTERIM LICENSING BY-LAW CONTROL STUDY • Work on specific wording of regulations ongoing • Licensing Requirements include the following – Compliance with Building Code – Compliance with Fire Code – Compliance with Property Standards By-law – Initial inspection and annual inspections thereafter – Individual units to contain a private bathroom, a refrigerator or mini- fridge and an area for food preparation and consumption – On-site property manager required for any property containing more than ten (10) units
CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS BOARDING HOUSE INTERIM NEXT STEPS CONTROL STUDY
• Prepare final amending documents and Licensing By-law to be brought forward to Council in July
CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS BOARDING HOUSE INTERIM THANK YOU CONTROL STUDY