What records explain accessory dwelling units at a St. Catharines home?

The City's zoning page says the housekeeping amendment, By-law 2024-032, permits two additional residential units, which the by-law calls accessory dwelling units, with detached, semi-detached or townhouse dwellings, with standards for their size, height, setbacks and parking. Section 2.2.1 of the zoning by-law allows them inside the main home or in an accessory structure, caps each at 80 m² of floor area, and sets setbacks of 1.2 metres from the rear and interior side lot lines for a detached unit (3 metres on a private road development); the parking table asks 0.5 spaces for each accessory unit and one for the main home.

The by-law also lets a detached structure that was legally there on or before 8 April 2024 hold a unit if the other rules are met, and allows detached units in agricultural zones only where its special provisions say so. A permission in the zone does not make an existing basement apartment lawful; the City's building permit records are where that is answered.

• Zoning: the City's zoning page, the housekeeping amendment and the zoning maps
• Zoning By-law 2013-283: the by-law as amended by the housekeeping amendment, section 2.2.1 and the parking table in section 3.12 (PDF)

Extra units allowed is in the free check as a summary of the City's rule, from our hand-kept table of city rules, and the full report reads the lot's zone where the City's zoning map is open data we can use; where it isn't, the report's line says where the City publishes it. Neither is confirmation that a particular unit holds a permit or may be occupied.

Free check: pick “Extra units allowed” See the sample report