Today, on Monday, June 30th, led by CAFES, the Peoples Official Plan Coalition (POP), submitted a rich set of recommendations to the City of Ottawa planning team on draft 2 of the New Comprehensive Zoning By-law. A major feat!
The focus of the POP submission is zoning that supports a dense, liveable, walkable, green, 15-minute caring city as an important alternative to sprawl, inequality and lack of connectivity. We want to see this demonstrated though provisions for affordable, equitable housing opportunities that fit the demographic need, enabling zoning for car sharing services, an emphasis on care facilities and amenity areas, emergency and temporary housing options, anti-renoviction and anti-demoviction measures, soil volume and permeable space requirements on residential lots for trees, neighbourhood zone setback minimums, better priority for shade trees in mainstreets, hub zones, minor corridors and mixed-used zones, soft landscaping in parking lots, adequate stormwater services with links to trees, no development in flood-prone areas, and the adoption of a clear food systems lens.
See the full submission at the end of this post. Our most active collaborators in the POP coalition have been CAWI (City for all Women), Ecology Ottawa, the Federation for Citizens Associations (FCA), Greenspace Alliance, Just Food, Strong Towns Ottawa , Walkable Ottawa and Wastewatch Ottawa. Yey team!
The draft 2 public consultation period has been open throughout the months of May and June, with several public open houses taking place in person and online from late May to early June. Some of the major topics discussed at the consultations included changes to Neighbourhood Zones, height transitions in Mainstreet Zones, communal parking lots in neighbourhoods, and changes to permitted uses in Industrial Zones.
You can still submit your written comments on draft 2 before July 1st to NewZoning@ottawa.ca.
Draft 3 is expected to be released on September 8th, 2025 and will go to Joint Committee and Council on December 17th, 2025 and January 28th, 2026, respectively. The final version of the by-law is expected to be enacted in Q1 2026. Visit the Engage Ottawa Zoning page to view draft 2 of the by-law and accompanying documents and to stay updated.
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CAFES has been engaged in the New Comprehensive Zoning By-law since January 2024 when a group of experienced volunteers formed a working group and co-wrote a recommendations paper on how zoning can regulate trees. We have since taken an active role within POP to lead submissions on draft 1 and draft 2 of the by-law, while continuing to update our own position paper. If you have questions or comments about trees and zoning, please contact Erica at eshardlow@cafesottawa.ca
