There were references in the Zoning By-laws to "Truck Transportation Facility ", "Transportation Terminal" or "Truck or transport terminals", but none of these terms were defined. In the absence of a definition, staff did not have the explicit direction to consistently apply the provisions of the zoning by-laws to a Transport Terminal. Sometimes, the Parking Area provisions were applied. Other times, the Outdoor Storage Yard provisions were applied, or nothing was applied.

Staff proposed a new definition for Transport Terminal as follows:

TRANSPORT TERMINAL is an industrial activity and means premises used to dispatch, park, repair, service, or store freight-carrying trucks and trailers including a transport truck and a transport trailer, and may include as an accessory use, the loading or unloading of goods or freight to or from, or transferring of goods or freight between, said trucks and trailers. A truck transportation facility or truck terminal is a transport terminal. A loading compound, motor vehicle dealership, outdoor storage yard, parking area, or towing facility is not a transport terminal

Staff also proposed new provisions regarding setbacks, grading, draining, paving, curbing, screening, lighting, location of refuse bins, and controlling ingress and egress for a Transport Terminal.

The above matters and the recommended solutions were brought forward in Housekeeping Amendment 2017-3 (Z-030/17 ZNG/5364). On November 19, 2018, Council approved Housekeeping Amendment 2017-3. No appeals were received.

After that approval, it became clear that there were issues regarding Transport Terminal in the MD1 and MD2 zoning districts and M1 zones. Some zoning districts or zones permitted Transport Terminal, some only allowed it as an accessory use to a permitted main uses, and some completely prohibited the use.

Some operations would set-up a one-room trailer as a 'business office' and the 'main use' of the parcel and then operate a Transport Terminal as an accessory use to the business office despite the Transport Terminal being the only use on the lot. Some Transport Terminals were located in close proximity to residential, institutional, and commercial uses causing negative impacts on those uses. Complaints were received concerning unpaved lots, dust, draining, lighting, ponding of water, and noise from trucks and tractor-trailers.

Further, regulatory changes at the provincial level require that drivers take appropriate breaks from driving, requiring drivers to store their truck or tractor-trailer in a safe and secure location. This has increased demand for Transport Terminals in locations where they may not be appropriate.

The Official Plan seeks to ensure that employment uses, such at a Transport Terminal, are developed in a manner which are compatible with other land uses, that employment areas are comprehensively planned, and provide attractive locations for business park development. Industrial development shall be sufficiently separated and/or buffered from sensitive land uses.