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EXPLAINER
Zoning for Repetition
Zoning has significant influence on development economics, and some zoning language sets the stage for the development success of custom designed housing, whereas other zoning language sets the stage for repeatable designs. The profitability of high-volume housing development depends on repetition.
Most Canadian municipalities have zoning by-laws that tend to support custom solutions, rather than repetition. For this reason, infill developers can often only succeed by targeting higher-end purchasers and leaning into the custom niche. Producers of modular housing panels and volumetric modular have effectively been shut out of infill development because their products are better suited to repetition.
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The solution
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Maximum lot coverage requirements that result in building footprints that cannot maximize minimum setbacks
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Flexible minimum setback requirements to accommodate site-specific constraints and variabilities
What doesn't work
​This custom semi could not be easily repeated on another lot because it is designed to maximize setbacks on this particular lot, and the economics of the project only work by maximize yield and targeting a high-end market.
What works
Edmonton’s zoning by-law includes a maximum 45% site coverage provision. On many infill lots, this results in the potential for more repetitive building footprints. Some 8-unit designs have been repeated already, without significant redesign.
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