Everybody, including city council, wants clearer rules for residential developments in the city's Old Town district, says the city's manager of planning.

Mike Gau told more than 60 people gathered Wednesday night to discuss guidelines for multi-housing initiatives that uncertainty lies in the documents which guide development proposals.

City council, he said, is looking for direction from Old Town residents regarding what type of housing they want and don't want to see in their neighbourhood.

The exercise comes on the heels of the recent public debate over two proposals approved by council.

The Official Community Plan (OCP) speaks to a preference for maintaining the low density character between Sixth Avenue and the escarpment, and Wood Street and Oglivie Street.

It does, however, also recommend that city council entertain larger multi-housing developments, in keeping with the OCP's promotion of higher residential density to take advantage of existing infrastructure like water and sewer mains.

The zoning bylaw allows for single-family and duplex developments in the Old Town, but also affords council the flexibility to grant permission for something larger.

It's the something larger, the grey area, that is bothersome, Gau explained.

"We totally acknowledge it causes a lot of uncertainty,” he said. "Council does not like it, staff do not like it and certainly we have heard recently, residents do not like it.”

What city hall wants, said Gau, is something more black and white to include in the zoning bylaw, which is currently undergoing its multi-year review and rewrite.

The first draft is scheduled to be ready for public review by the end of this month.

The city planner invited the audience to brainstorm about anything and everything, to list their preferences, whether it's for or against more multi-family development in the Old Town, or design requirements to minimize impact.

"Black and white rules is where we need to go, is what we want to hear from you,” he said. "Think outside the box. I think that is where we want to go tonight.”

After a divisive debate over the last couple of months, council approved an eight-plex on Oglivie Street and a five-plex at the corner of Jarvis Street and Seventh Avenue.

But it also voted to freeze any further consideration of conditional use applications until there was a better understanding of what the property owners in the Old Town were prepared to live with.

It was clear last night as the individual breakout groups began reporting the results of their discussions back to the main floor, opinions vary – a lot.

While there is support for multi-housing developments, there is opposition.

As one resident said while looking over the map of 11 multi-housing projects approved in the Old Town since 2000, it's the slow death of the single-family neighbourhood by a thousand cuts.

It was suggested last night – as it has been in the last couple of months – that there be a limit to the number of multi-housing developments allowed; perhaps one per block.

Not all homes in the Old Town have seen their day, but some have, it was pointed out.

Though it was not mentioned last night, it was pointed out recently as aging single-family homes need to be replaced in the oldest part of the city, not everybody can afford to or wants to replace them with another single-family home.

If minimum setbacks from the building to the property line are going to apply to one type of building, a single-family home, they should apply to all, it was suggested last night.

In the case of the eight-plex on Oglivie, council relaxed the minimum distance to the street to allow for greater parking space along the rear lane.

It was suggested the height restriction should be rolled back to seven metres from 10, that design criteria be established to reduce light loss and minimize shadowing.

There was a general indication the "big-box” approach to multi-housing developments be prohibited.

Mounting density means an increased need for more parking, it was noted.

High-rises should not be allowed, though increased height allowances may be appropriate for properties next to the clay cliffs.

While there was desire to maintain the Old Town character, there were questions about what exactly is the Old Town character.

A large single-family home built to maximum lot coverage and height restrictions – and there are some – is as much out of character with the more common smaller houses as multi-housing developments, its was noted.

It was suggested the consolidation of two or more lots to allow for a single structure – as was the case with the eight-plex – should be not be allowed.

One building per lot would at least provide some breaks for light and wind to pour through, it was said.

Perhaps, it was suggested, the concept of multi-family housing in the downtown should focus on, or be limited to, lane-way and garden suite housing.

It was suggested, and the city planner agreed, that last night's input be rolled into a summary report that Old Town residents can chew on until they have another meeting in a couple of weeks.

Gau said this morning no date for that gathering has been set, though it won't likely be held until after the spring break is over, sometime in the week of March 19.

Three members of city council were present last night, including Coun. Kirk Cameron.

He put forward the motion for the moratorium last month, indicating he was not prepared to entertain another conditional-use application until he had a better feel for what residents want.

There were concerns raised by members of council when discussing the moratorium that dragging the issue out to long could affect somebody's desire to go ahead with a new multi-housing developments this year. There are, it was said, property owners waiting in the wings to do just that.

City manager Dennis Shewfelt explained recently that in order for council to hit its target of having final approval of the new zoning bylaw by the end of June, it would have to have a decision on the Old Town by late April.