Minister of Municipal Affairs Grants Hamilton Council Zoning Order

Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs Steve Clark issued a Ministerial Zoning Order on Friday making a site specific exception for CityHousing Hamilton to add housing units on the first floor of First Place at 350 King Street East.

City Council requested the order in December to create affordable seniors housing in former office space on the first floor of the complex.

Hamilton’s Downtown Mixed Use zoning, which applies to the building, does not allow first floor residential. If Council amended the zoning to grant residential use, other landowners in the Downtown could file appeals to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.

A Ministerial Zoning Order is final, not subject to appeal, and does not create a precedent for similar uses nearby.