The Committee of Adjustment is a body appointed by City Council to consider requests for minor changes, or variances, to the City’s zoning by-laws. The purpose of the Committee is to provide a forum for the expeditious and practical consideration of minor variances to the City’s by-laws. The Committee considers matters of zoning variance which are often of the utmost importance to individual applicants, but which are not of sufficient magnitude to warrant the formal consideration of City Council.

The Committee of Adjustment has five members appointed by Council and primarily Ontario’s Planning Act and Regulations adopted to implement the Planning Act, govern its responsibilities and conduct.

A Minor Variance

A minor variance is a minor variation, or change, from the specific requirements of a zoning by-law.

There are two specific types of zoning variances, which the Committee of Adjustment may consider.

The first, and most common type of variance is one in which an applicant seeks relief from a specific requirement of a zoning by-law, such as a reduction in minimum yard setback or an increase in maximum permitted building height.

The second type of variance which the Committee may consider is one in which an applicant seeks to expand or change an existing lawful non-conforming use. A lawful non-conforming use is a use on a property which does not comply with the existing zoning by-laws, but which has been in existence since before the by-law came into effect. No change is permitted to a lawful non-conforming use other than complete removal and compliance with existing zoning unless a variance is granted.

A hierarchy of planning documents governs land use in the City of Pickering. The Durham Regional Official Plan is the parent document covering the entire Region of Durham, approved by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and administered by the Region of Durham, which sets out broad land use categories and policies. The Pickering Official Plan, approved by the Region of Durham and administered jointly by the City of Pickering and the Region of Durham, fine-tunes the policies of the Durham Regional Official Plan in Pickering, providing more detailed policies and land use categories.

The City’s Zoning By-laws, which are applicable law and are set and governed by City Council, implement the policies and land uses prescribed by the official plans. Where official plan policies are generally broad and subject to some interpretation, the zoning by-laws are very specific regarding types of uses and development standards at the individual lot level.

Zoning By-laws are so specific that they cannot be drafted to anticipate every circumstance, and situations often arise where, for one reason or another, an individual property owner finds the zoning on his property to be unsatisfactory, and seeks to make changes to it. In the case of major changes to the zoning, such as a change in permitted use, or a drastic reduction in required lot size, the owner of the property must apply to have the zoning amended by City Council. This necessitates the formal consideration of City Council of an application to rezone the property through a new amending zoning by-law. This may be a lengthy and complicated process.

In many instances a property owner may only wish to seek minor relief from the zoning. For instance, a property owner may wish to build an addition on his house, which extends slightly into a minimum yard depth required by the zoning by-law. The Committee of Adjustment has been created specifically to deal with situations such as this.

Before the Committee of Adjustment can consider a minor variance request, an application must be submitted to the City of Pickering, Planning & Development Department.  All relevant material, documentation and fees must be submitted with your application.  Application forms are available from the Planning & Development Department and staff is available to assist you in making your submission and answer any questions you may have at any time in the process.

Application Form [PDF]

Submission Requirements:

• a completed application form;
• a recent survey showing dimensions of the lands and the location of all buildings on the subject property including proposed additions and alterations;
• an application fee;
• elevation drawing; and
• proof of ownership of the land.

In some cases additional information may be required to review the application.  The applicant may submit any other information such as photographs and relevant documents that he or she feels would assist the Committee in their consideration of the application.

To ensure the application is processed as quickly as possible, all forms, drawings and sketches should be neat and legible.  All information should be as accurate as possible and all dimensions must be in metric.

All submissions may be viewed by the public in the Planning & Development Department during business hours.

The Minor Variance Process

Once the application form is completed and submitted, notice of the application as well as the date, time and location of the public meeting is circulated for comments to adjacent residents and landowners within 60 metres of the applicant’s property. As well, various City departments, members of Council and other public agencies are sent a copy of the notice. Based on the information received with the application and comments received through the circulation, a report is prepared by the Planning & Development Department and the Committee of Adjustment hears the application at a scheduled public meeting. The applicant or authorized agent must attend the meeting. Other interested parties may attend the meeting and express their views for or against the application.

The Committee, after reviewing the report and hearing all aspects of the application, will make a decision whether or not to approve the minor variance.

Notice of the Decision

Notice of the Committee of Adjustment decision is mailed to the property owner and other interested parties who requested a copy of the decision. The decision may be subject to the completion of certain conditions, which will be outlined in the decision. It is up to the applicant to complete these conditions and notify the Planning & Development Department. Anyone may appeal the decision of the Committee to the Ontario Municipal Board. If no appeal is lodged within twenty days, the decision of the Committee is final and binding. If the minor variance was needed in order to obtain a building permit, zoning clearance could be granted and returned to the Planning & Development Department for further processing.

The Appeal Procedure

Regardless of whether the Committee of Adjustment decides in favour or not, of the application, the decision is not final for 20 days after the decision. During this time period anyone who does not agree with the decision of the Committee of Adjustment may appeal the decision to the Ontario Municipal Board. The appeal must be made within twenty days of the decision. The appeal must be submitted to the Secretary-Treasurer of the Committee of Adjustment in the Planning & Development Department outlining the reasons for the appeal, together with a cheque in the amount of $125.00 payable to the Minister of Finance of Ontario.

Timeframe

Approximately three months is required from the time an application is filed to the completion of the twenty-day appeal period. Therefore, if you are considering any construction on your property, it is best to consult with the Planning & Development Department early to ensure that your plans and drawings comply with all relevant zoning regulations. This avoids any disappointments and / or delays.