Off-Street Parking and Loading Regulations Update

Background

On November 18th, 2024, Saanich Council adopted amendments to the Zoning Bylaw that will help modernize parking standards, support sustainable transportation options and expedite housing starts in our community.

The new measures include:

  • Lowering parking minimums to one stall per unit for residential projects of 12 units of less — although some Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH) Zones may require a lower parking ratio depending on their location.
  • Applying parking maximums of up to 1.5 stalls per unit for residential projects of more than 12 units
  • Applying requirements for Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plans for residential projects of more than 12 units (except for non-market housing developments).
    • Each development needs to adopt at least two TDM Plan Packages. These include Transit, Cycling, Carshare and Unbundled Parking packages.
  • Requiring residential buildings of more than 12 units to provide onsite loading zones to help ensure there are safe, convenient spaces for logistics and delivery vehicles to stop.

The changes came into effect for all new applications as of January 1, 2025, with some flexibility for in-stream developments, providing the ability opt-in to these new requirements or use old requirements until March 10, 2025.

Next Steps

Future work will follow the Terms of Reference and includes a comprehensive update and modernization of the District of Saanich’s off-street parking and loading regulations based on a review of current best practices, as well as technical analysis, and stakeholder and public engagement. Work for this project will begin in September 2025.