603A: The Ogre In The Room: How One City Rewrote its Minimum Parking Standards

October 06, 2016

11:45am - 12:00pm

Zoning is contentious, but zoning for parking is even more so. The politics and inertia around parking rules make any attempt at fundamental change somewhat like trying to wrestle an ogre.

Ottawa’s zoning by-law has not been comprehensively reviewed in decades and some parking rates remained unchanged since 1964, many of which are increasingly at odds with the city's 21st century planning context and goals for the urban area. In 2015 the City of Ottawa overhauled its minimum parking rules for its inner urban area and around its new light rail transit stations, to enable intensification, mixed-use and quality urban design. This presentation will tell the tale of how Ottawa was able to wrestle the 18-foot ogre to the ground.

Speakers