What records explain additional residential units at a Stratford home?

The City's pamphlet says up to three units per lot, three in the main building or two in the main building and one in an accessory building or garage, are generally permitted in residential zones, provided the property is served by municipal water and sanitary sewers and the zoning provisions, such as setbacks, height and floor area, can be met. It says the City recently updated its Zoning By-law to clarify the requirements for additional residential units, which replace garden suites and second suites. One parking space is required for each additional unit, and each needs a building permit from the City's Building Division and a permit from the Electrical Safety Authority.

The pamphlet also says short-term rentals, stays of less than 28 consecutive days, are not permitted in additional residential units, that each unit is given its own unit number by the Building Division, and that additional units are exempt from development charges. A general permission does not make an existing basement apartment lawful; the building permit and inspections are the records that do.

• Additional Residential Units (ARUs): the City's pamphlet on where units are allowed, permits, parking and addresses (PDF)
• Planning: the City's planning page, with the zoning by-law, its maps and the Official Plan

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