What are the big changes in the new Whitehorse zoning bylaw?

Hamilton Spectator

28-05-2025

The city recently released a draft of the new zoning bylaw, and if you think this is a boring document that won't affect you, you're wrong.
City zoning affects people all across Whitehorse every single day: from how easy it is to find parking to housing affordability to wildfire resilience. The overhaul of the city's zoning bylaw could have profound effects, and thus, the city is seeking feedback now that they've released the draft zoning bylaw.
The current zoning bylaw the city operates on was adopted in July 2012. At that point in time, Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe' was on the top of the charts, Stephen Harper was the prime minister and the population of Whitehorse was 26,000. Much has changed.
With the Whitehorse Official Community Plan (OCP) being adopted in 2023, the city had an obligation to update the zoning bylaw to adhere to that plan within two years, as per the Municipal Act. While the city is getting a
bit of extension on that two-year deadline
, it still will have to adopt an updated zoning bylaw by next spring.
The draft of the new zoning bylaw presents some significant changes from its forefather: specifically in the areas of parking, FireSmarting and the overall complexity of the bylaw, as well as some other notable changes.
The draft bylaw itself is a more compact creature than the 2012 version: the older has 265 pages, whereas the new one is 153-pages long.
And the new zoning bylaw has 30 types of zones: the current one on the books has 42.
It's important to note that the zoning bylaw only applies to building and land use going forward: new developments, changes or redevelopments.
First and foremost, parking minimums — essentially the bare minimum amount of parking the city requires developers to provide — for downtown residences have been removed, meaning there is no obligation for developers to provide downtown residential units with parking. This is a reduction from the requirement of having one space per two residential units. The maximum amount of parking that can be supplied is 1.2 spots per unit for residences.
For commercial units downtown, there is no change to the number of required parking spots.
Elsewhere in the city — specifically, Copper Ridge/Granger, Takhini, Valleyview, Riverdale and Marwell/Industrial, Porter Creek and Whistle Bend — the parking minimums have been reduced to one spot per two units, except for supportive housing which gets one parking space per four units.
Non-residential units in urban centres outside of downtown will have parking requirements reduced to match the current commercial requirements downtown: one spot per 150 square meters of gross floor space.
Areas of town zoned as 'commercial node' will qualify for this parking minimum. The commercial node zoning designation is meant to allow for some commercial development, in residential neighbourhoods, in order to integrate small-scale commercial and personal services to accommodate the daily needs of local residents.
The OCP did indicate complete communities being a priority of the city — meaning that nieghbourhoods meet all the basic needs of residents, by having a mix of residential, commercial, recreational and community uses. Examples listed include housing, employment opportunities, groceries, medical and personal services, parks and schools.
The OCP stated that 'the City will encourage the transition of existing residential neighbourhoods to more Complete Communities by introducing opportunities for new land uses or mixed-use nodes.'
Other parts of town will have parking minimums of 0.8 spots per unit, as opposed to 1 spot per unit.
Supportive housing, under the current zoning bylaw, is a 'conditional use' for many different residential zones. Usually, council approval is necessary for conditional use items to be able to use a site.
Supportive housing refers to a building with residential units that provides on-site supports and services for nine or more individuals who require supervision or assistance daily due to mental, social, physical or behavioural challenges.
Under the proposed draft bylaw, supportive housing joins other forms of housing — which range from cottage cluster to townhouse to multiplex to mobile home — as a principal use in many residential zones. A principal use refers to what a given zone is mainly used for — and it does not need council permission to operate within the zone.
The OCP did make a commitment to support the inclusion of supportive housing and publicly-operated housing in all areas of the city, with priority along transit routes.
A new type of zoning is being proposed as part of this draft zoning bylaw. In collaboration with Kwanlin Dün First Nation (KDFN), the city is changing the zoning designation of 'First Nation' to 'KDFN General' or 'McIntyre Development District.'
The McIntyre Development District zoning, according to the city, will give KDFN more autonomy to determine its own development patterns.
Kwanlin Dün First Nation may use in the land in any way they want, in accordance with the land use designations in the Kwanlin Dün First Nation Self-Government Agreement and any applicable legislation, plans and policies, per the draft zoning bylaw.
The KDFN General designation will also allow traditional activities without a development permit from the city — subject to authorization from Kwanlin Dün government.
FireSmarting is a city initiative which includes services such as home assessments and plant tags identifying fire-resistant plants, all in the name of reducing fire risk across the city.
The new zoning bylaw has some proposals that align with FireSmart guidelines. Going forward, new coniferous trees (like pine, spruce and fir), which are drier and more flammable than deciduous trees, have to be planted a minimum of 10 metres from any principal building on a lot. This includes existing buildings and any future buildings being developed on adjacent lots.
Trees and shrubs in general have to be at least 1.5 metres away from a principal building.
Whereas the 2012 zoning bylaw recommended evergreen trees and shrubs be planted, the draft zoning bylaw only recommends deciduous trees and shrubs. Deciduous trees are supposed to have more moisture and thus be less flammable.
Building heights downtown have been an issue the former council
heard a great deal
about, especially tied to the Official Community Plan.
Increasing building heights was a consideration in the city's official community plan to encourage densification.
Now, across the downtown, the maximum building height is 25 metres, except for residential areas hugging the escarpment, and the waterfront area, which have shorter building height limits.
Regulating short-term rentals within Whitehorse has been an ongoing topic at city council. Back in 2022, when the OCP itself was being drafted,
delegates took to council
to express their opinions on regulation of short-term rentals.
In February 2024, the city received
recommendations
from its housing and land development committee on how to handle the short-term rentals in the city.
It also commissioned a
public study
to hear about people's experiences with short-term rentals in August 2024.
In the 2012 zoning bylaw, there is no reference to short-term rentals.
Now, in the proposed zoning bylaw, short-term rentals are regulated: there's a maximum of one short-term rental unit per lot, except for condo buildings, where the maximum is one short-term rental per unit.
An individual operator can only have one short-term rental in any zone in the city.
Matthew Cameron, a spokesperson for the city, told the News via email that in residential zones, short term rentals must be on the same property as the owner's primary residence, be it within their own home while the owner is travelling or in a garden suite on the same lot.
An operator is allowed to engage other businesses for services such as advertising, booking, guest services, housekeeping and maintenance — and those third parties are not considered operators unless they own or lease the units themselves.
Short-term rentals are also not allowed to operate on the same lots as bed-and-breakfasts.
Furthermore, a short-term rental in someone's primary residence shall be limited to a maximum of six months a year, which cannot be divided into more than three separate periods during which the short-term rental is offered for rent.
Public engagement on the zoning bylaw rewrite is set to be held May 28 between 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Old Fire Hall and during the Fireweed Market in Shipyards Park on May 29 between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The city also has an online survey about the zoning bylaw rewrite, available on Engage Whitehorse until June 20.