Mississauga’s updated Official Plan to help increase housing choices

The City’s updated Official Plan will allow for the creation of much-needed housing types across Mississauga including garden suites, duplexes, triplexes, townhomes and mid-rise buildings. Staff will provide an overview of the updated housing and land use policies to Planning and Development Committee on Monday, June 26 as part of the City’s Official Plan Review.

Staff are proposing new residential land use designations that will help remove barriers and encourage more types of housing. Land use designations are important because they outline what can be built on a parcel of land (e.g., homes or industrial uses) and the scale of the buildings (e.g., number of storeys). Broadening these designations will remove some of the restrictions that have resulted in inequities through practices such as exclusionary zoning. Exclusionary zoning refers to areas of the City that only allow single detached houses to be built and exclude other more affordable, multi-unit homes.

The proposed Official Plan policies also encourage the development of mid-rise buildings (five to eight storeys) which are currently missing across much of Mississauga. Mid-rise buildings help with height transitions between low-rise and high-rise neighbourhoods bringing human scale development across the city.

Other updates in this set of draft Official Plan policies include:

• Direction for redevelopment of retail sites of more than one hectare
• Encouraging the creation of more family-size units
• Supporting the protection of rental housing
• Integrating and simplifying strategic growth areas such as the urban growth centre and major transit station areas

Staff are taking feedback on the housing and land use policies until July 31, 2023.

A draft of the complete Official Plan will be prepared this fall followed by a final round of public comments. Once the Official Plan is approved, the City will undertake a review of its Zoning By-law. While the Official Plan provides general guidelines for what can be built and where, the Zoning By-law provides more specific details about how to build within that envelope. There will be opportunities for public feedback during the Zoning By-law review process.

What:

Update presentation on draft Official Plan housing and land use policies

When:

Mississauga Planning and Development Committee
June 26, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.

How to Participate:

1. Watch the live stream on the City’s website (without registering) or join in person at City Hall. Advance registration is required to participate and/or make a comment virtually during the meeting. Advance registration is preferred to participate and/or make a comment in person. Please email deputations.presentations@mississauga.ca or call 905-615-3200 ext. 5423 no later than Friday, June 23.
2. Review the draft policies and make comments anytime using the online commenting tool on our Official Plan Review site.

Background

Mississauga’s Official Plan is a comprehensive document that guides how the City will grow and develop and is an important part of our city building efforts. The City reviews and updates the Official Plan every 10 years to ensure it reflects provincial direction and Mississauga’s changing needs.

Staff have now shared all three sets of updated Official Plan draft policies for feedback and are preparing a consolidated version for review later this fall. To learn more, visit our Official Plan Review site.

Increasing ‘Missing Middle’ housing is also a key action in the City’s housing plan. Read Growing Mississauga: An Action Plan for New Housing to learn more about the City’s efforts to get more homes built, streamline building approvals and make homes more affordable.

Tags

• Planning and Building
• Public Consultation and Engagement