Group Home Regulations
The Zoning Bylaw includes definitions for "Group Homes" and "Limited Group Homes," and regulates group homes using a special land use provision.
The Zoning Bylaw does not consider any of the physical or operational characteristics of group homes when defining the impact this land use has on surrounding properties. Instead it only uses the number of occupants in a home to separate various forms of group homes from other housing types. This method doesn’t address the different impacts that result from having various types of group homes in a community.
To address this, the City is considering Zoning Bylaw amendments that would include physical and operational characteristics (such as whether 24/7 care is provided, or the number of expected emergency services visits per month) instead of only using a number of occupants to distinguish between group home types.
This type of characteristic allows regulations to be applied only where they are needed.
Draft Regulations
The draft amendments for group homes will provide physical and operational criteria to guide in the development of future group homes.
These changes to the Zoning Bylaw are intended to make sure that a clear and justified distinction can be made between group homes and other types of housing so that these uses can be regulated more effectively.
Project Stage
This project is in the draft amendment stage of the text amendment process. There is no target City Council public hearing date at this point.
The City of Edmonton is committed to citizen engagement. Administration is accepting feedback on the draft amendments to group homes. Please submit comments or questions to michael.brown@edmonton.ca.
For More Information
Andrew Sherstone
| Title | Planner, Zoning Bylaw Implementation |
|---|---|
| Telephone | 780-442-0699 |
| Fax | 780-496-6054 |
| andrew.sherstone@edmonton.ca |
