CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS BOARDING 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 ’ 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 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, Code, Human Rights Code • Regional and Local policies and regulations- Regional Official Plan, Housing and Action Plan, City of Niagara Falls Official Plan • Best Practice Approaches- provincial, national and international (U.S.) • Contextual Analysis- visual inventory of , 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 – ‘ ’ 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, By-law Amendment • Introduce new use and defined terms – 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