been reviewed by the City’s Building Department, which has determined that the proposed dwelling unit size would meet the requirements of the Building Code. Permitting small bachelor dwelling units would add to the range of housing options within the area, which implements policy direction within the PPS and Official Plan.

Amenity Area

The rezoning also requests a reduction in minimum amenity area from 12 m2 to 10 m2 per dwelling unit. Approximately 1400 m2 of amenity area is shown on the site plan within balconies located on the west side of the multiple dwelling and within the ‘barrel roof building’, which abuts the rear of the existing building located at 1220 University Avenue West. The Planning Justification Report (PJR) identifies a number of public parks and open spaces within the vicinity as justification for the reduction.

Planning staff agree with the justification and notes that all 53 of the bachelor dwelling units would be constructed with balconies. In addition to the planned amenity space within the barrel roof building—the balconies will add livability and resiliency to these units, which are planned to be approximately 31 m2 or 333 ft2. Particularly if at some point within the lifespan of the building occupancy shifts away from students, who are anticipated to occupy these units.

Required Parking

The rezoning requests a reduction in minimum required parking spaces for the residential use from 1.25 spaces per dwelling unit to 1 space. This would result in the provision of 133 parking spaces dedicated for residential use instead of 166 (i.e. a reduction of 33 spaces). The parking memo submitted in support of the request justifies the reduction based on the expectation that 50% of the units would be occupied by students. Transportation Planning Staff agree with the methodology used in the Memo and recommend additional bicycle parking facilities be constructed to encourage active transportation.

Eleven bicycle parking spaces are required if the site was designed to meet the minimum vehicle parking requirement set out in the Zoning By-law. Consistent with the comments from Transportation Planning Staff—it is recommended that a minimum of 44 bicycle parking spaces be required as part of the requested site specific zoning. This accounts for the 11 spaces that would typically be required plus the requested reduction of 33 vehicle parking spaces. The Transportation Impact Study (TIS) prepared in support of the application suggests consideration be given to designating some indoor bicycle parking areas within the residential building.

The applicant requests 0 visitor parking spaces. The Zoning By-law requires 15% of the required parking to be marked as visitor parking for a multiple dwelling with 5