Site Plan Control

Section 41(2) of the Planning Act authorizes a municipality to designate an area as a site plan control area. The entire City of Windsor is designated a site plan control area per By-law 1/2004.

Section 41(4) authorizes a municipality to approve:

“Plans showing the location of all buildings and structures to be erected and showing the location of all facilities and works to be provided in conjunction therewith and of all facilities and works required under clause (7) (a), including facilities designed to have regard for accessibility for persons with disabilities.”

This includes:

• Massing and conceptual design of proposed buildings;

• Relationship of the buildings to adjacent buildings, streets, and exterior areas to which the public have access;

• Exterior design, including without limitation the character, scale, appearance and design features of buildings, and their sustainable design, where an official plan and a site plan control by-law both contain provisions relating to such matters;

• Sustainable desig n elements on any adjoining highway under a municipality’s jurisdiction, including without limitation trees, shrubs, hedges, plantings or other ground cover, permeable paving materials, street furniture, curb ramps, waste and recycling containers and bicycle parking facilities; and

• Facilities designed to have regard for accessibility for persons with disabilities.

Section 41(7) authorizes the approval authority to place conditions on the approval of plans and drawings. Relevant conditions include: off-street vehicular loading and parking facilities, either covered or uncovered; access driveways, and the surfacing of such areas and driveways; facilities for the lighting, including floodlighting, of the land or of any buildings or structures, walls, fences, hedges, trees, shrubs or other groundcover or facilities for the landscaping of the lands or the protection of adjoining lands, and grading or alteration in elevation or contour of the land and provision for the disposal of storm, surface and waste water from the land and from any buildings or structures. These conditions will implement any mitigations measures identified in the Official Plan, Zoning By-law and any other documents or studies.

Industrial development is subject to site plan control. Matters such as compliance with zoning provisions, the location of driveways, landscaping and so on are considered during site plan review. Approval for most development includes approval of a site plan and elevations and includes the registration of a site plan agreement on title. The agreement binds current and future owners to the terms of the agreement and enables the City to enforce the provisions in the agreement, providing another level of implementation of mitigation measures.

Approval authority for SPC has been delegated to the City Planner or their designate. However, some site plan applications are subject to approval by Council.

For any new Transport Terminal, or an expansion of an existing Transport Terminal, the provision of five or more parking spaces, and/or the construction of a building on the parcel will trigger site plan control. This will ensure that the proposed Transport Terminal is consistent with the direction of the Official Plan and the provisions of the appropriate Zoning By-law.