The city is officially kicking off the final phase of rewriting its zoning bylaw – and backyard chicken coops will be addressed.

City planning staff met with council Thursday evening for two hours to go over 40-plus changes to the bylaw.

City planner Mike Ellis said this morning the draft of the new bylaw will be available on-line Monday, and hard copies will be available at city offices.

A public open house is scheduled for April 3, and the intent is to begin the formal bylaw process with first reading on May 28. Third and final reading is tentatively scheduled for July 9.

Planning manager Mike Gau said the revised bylaw is largely a reflection of the changes made to the new Official Community Plan (OCP) which was adopted in October 2010.

The OCP, he said, requires the zoning bylaw to be brought into compliance with new provisions of the plan no later than two years after the new plan is approved.

Gau said many of the issues addressed in the zoning amendments have already been been aired publicly as a result of discussions around changes to the OCP.

Ellis said the much talked-about proposal to permit chickens in urban subdivisions cannot be addressed specifically in the zoning bylaw, just as the zoning bylaw doesn't deal with dogs and cats.

But council has instructed staff to bring forward the proposed changes in the Animal Control Bylaw to allow chickens, and the new zoning bylaw would address rules governing the placement and construction of chicken coops, he said.

The first draft of the new bylaw to be released Monday, the planner explained, will not include provisions for chicken coops because the amendment to the Animal Control Bylaw to allow a maximum of six hens needs to come first.

But his intent is to have chicken coops addressed before the amendment bylaw is passed, he said.

Among the proposed changes, Ellis said, is the amalgamation of the residential alternative zone with the regular residential zone. That will largely affect the neighbourhoods on the north side of Porter Creek and the south side of Crestview.

Currently, for instance, homes in the residential alternative zone on the large lots along Beech Street are restricted to six metres in height, and allow for single-family homes, many of which are older mobile homes, he pointed out.

Ellis said under the proposed rezoning, property owners would be permitted to build to 10 metres high, and duplexes would be permitted.

Finished landscaping, he said, is not a requirement across the board in all residential zones currently, but it would be under the changes.

The new zoning bylaw would increase the maximum density for residential lots in the old part of downtown from two units per lot – a duplex – to four units per lot, he explained.

"There is a lot of potential for natural infill,” added Gau. "This is creating lot supply without taking away green space.

"These types of things are sort of a way to have natural evolution within existing neighbourhoods just with a zoning change, and the private sector does the rest.”

Gau said the OCP does encourage boosting density in existing urban areas as a means of meeting the demands of growth while taking advantage of infrastructure that's already there.

Among the first seven amendments that went forward last year in phase one of the zoning bylaw rewrite were specific provisions to allow for the construction of backyard garden suites, Ellis pointed out.

He said the first seven amendments last year looked at the more pressing matters, such as the provision of garden suites.

This phase, he said, deals with the whole ball of wax with more than 40 amendments, not including housekeeping matters.

Ellis said the new OCP, for instance, encourages a broader mix of commercial activity with appropriate landscaping and appearance in the zone along the Alaska Highway.

The proposed zoning amendments deal with just how broad the mix of activity should be, what commercial businesses should and should not be allowed, and how they should be presented to the public eye, he explained.

The proposed changes, he said, recommend expanding the maximum floor space for commercial businesses from 1,500 square metres to 7,500 square metres (the size of the local Canadian Tire store, or large enough for a hotel).

Ellis said the OCP identifies the need for some sort of buffer zones between the quarry boundaries and neighbouring subdivisions.

The proposed amendments to the zoning bylaw define the type of buffer, and recommend how much distance should be between the two quarries and subdivisions, he said.