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CHAPTER 5: REGULATORY COMPONENT
                                               Introduction
                                               This chapter focuses on regulations and permitting related to city
                                               codes including zoning, building, fire and health. It also includes
                                               requirements for the right-of-way, managed by the Department of
                                               Transportation and Infrastructure. A key objective in the adaptive
                                               reuse strategy is to make the best use of the discretionary flexibili-
                                               ty that already exists in the permitting system and promote aware-
                                               ness of that flexibility to applicants. Another objective is to formal-
                                               ize exceptions to regulations that are granted frequently to projects
                                               with similar conditions so applicants can more readily anticipate
                                               the outcome of the permitting process.


                                               Overview of existing conditions
                                               The following section outlines the current conditions for the regu-
                                               latory component of the adaptive reuse program. They are orga-
                                               nized by City department.


                                               Community Planning and Development –
                                               Development Services
                                               The Community Planning and Development Department in-
                                               cludes a wide variety of services such as comprehensive planning,
                                               landmark preservation, zoning amendments, development review,
                                               regulatory tools, permitting and inspections. While many of these
                                               services relate to adaptive reuse projects in one way or another, the
                                               Development Services division is key to planning and conducting
                                               an adaptive reuse project.


                                               Role of Development Services is permitting
                                               The Development Services division of Community Planning and
                                               Development reviews applications for adaptive reuse projects
                                               (among others) to determine whether the requirements are met.
                                               Project applications are split into two tracks: (1) Site Development
                                               Plan (SDP) review and (2) Commercial Zoning review. Both have
                                               different review teams. The SDP review process is required for all
                                               new commercial building projects and for residential projects of
                                               three or more units. The Commercial Zoning review track, on the
                                               other hand, deals with smaller, commercial projects (existing, rath-
                                               er than new build) that do not qualify for the SDP review. Many
                                               adaptive reuse projects go through the Commercial Zoning review
                                               process, but some may go through the SDP process depending on
                                               scope.












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