Township should look at new guidelines for house construction
Letter to the Editor

The following letter, addressed to Mayor Margaret Black from Concerned Citizens of King Township (CCKT), was submitted to the Sentinel for publication.

In light of the fact that the King Township bylaws are undergoing revisions, CCKT believes that now is the optimal time to include some form of community control over new buildings being constructed in residential areas. We believe this is absolutely necessary and critical to preserving historical aesthetics. In addition, the revisions should address the vulnerability of those neighbouring the new constructions in terms of losing privacy, and being blocked from natural light.

We believe the rights of individual homeowners, and groups of residents, who have new, significantly larger buildings erected in close proximity, are being disregarded.

Our concerns about loss of historical aesthetics, and violation of neighbours' rights are not theoretical. Several homes have recently been erected in King City which have had a significant, adverse impact on streetscapes, and neighbours' rights have clearly been violated.

After research, including review of the existing King Township bylaws, we have compiled a list of proposed changes, which we believe will help protect individual rights, and neighbours' rights. We strongly request that these be incorporated in the revised bylaws.

They include the following: • Maximum height of any part of the roof should be 11 metres. • Height of the roof should be within 10 per cent of existing homes immediately adjacent to the proposed new home. • Front setbacks should be within two metres of the average front setback within the block. • Minimum setbacks at the side of buildings should be three metres on one side and two on the other side, provided the wall is no more than four metres high. For wall heights above four metres, side setbacks should be a minimum of three metres. • Rear setback should be maintained at average minimums within the block and not be less than 10 metres. • Lot coverage for new houses should be up to 30 per cent for lots of 1,200 square metres or less. • Lot coverage for new houses should be up to 25 per cent for lots between 1,200 and 2,000 square metres. • Lot coverage for new houses should be up to 20 per cent for lots larger than 2,000 square metres. • Driveway widths should be no more than 25 per cent of the lot width.

In terms of compiling and enforcing design guidelines, our thinking is aligned with new bylaws which are already being enforced in Mississauga in Section 5 of their Site Plan manual - Infill Housing Submission Requirements. These can be viewed on the City of Mississauga Web site.

These guidelines clearly demonstrate how existing residential communities in King Township could be enhanced while ensuring the protection of existing residents' rights.

Although a complete review of the Mississauga Design Guidelines is encouraged, they include the following salient points: • House designs which fit with the scale and character of the local area, and take advantage of the particular site are encouraged. The use of standard repeat designs is strongly discouraged. • The depth of the front yard should be similar to that of the adjoining lots to preserve the spatial character and vegetation on the street. • The building mass, side yards and rear yards should respect and relate to those of the adjacent lots, and the new house should not have a detrimental impact on its immediate neighbours in terms of loss of privacy or sunlight. • Existing trees greater than 15 centimetres in diameter should be plotted on the site plan; the preservation of existing trees in front and rear yards is critical. • The design of the building should de-emphasize the height of the house. • Generally, the front wall and roof mass should be designed as a composition of architectural elements (e.g. projecting dormers, porches etc.) as opposed to the single two-storey high front wall with occasional bay windows and 45-degree, two-storey high roof. • Garages should not project beyond the main face of the house. The character of many neighbourhoods is a formal one which is adversely affected by garages prominent in the front yard. This is more critical on narrower lots. The faces of the garages should be recessed behind the main face of the house. • The proportion of paved surfaces in the front yard should be as small as possible. Large areas of paving in the front yards often detract from the well landscaped image which prevails in many neighbourhoods.

Concerned Citizens of King Township have three specific recommendations: • To incorporate the listing of proposed changes (as noted above) into our bylaws as soon as possible. • To incorporate the design guidelines from the City of Mississauga (also noted above), into our own design guidelines as soon as possible, ensuring that the same intent and essence of these guidelines are enacted and enforced. • To revise the application of the existing design guidelines for towns, villages and hamlets in King Township. These must be changed to include all streets in all residential areas. Currently, they only cover main streets, which means that all the residential homes on all other streets are excluded, and are therefore unaffected by existing design guidelines.

We strongly encourage that these recommendations be considered immediately, to ensure the preservation of the historic aesthetic in all our residential areas, and to ensure the protection of our residents' rights.

Ron Mitchell,

Vice Chair,

CCKT