VIDEO: Cartoon explains the city's R4 zoning review to create more rental apartments

A shot from the city’s cartoon video explaining the R4 zoning review. (City of Ottawa)

What’s R4 zoning and how will the City of Ottawa’s review of it help people find more affordable homes? That’s the question this cartoon video the city’s planning department has put out seeks to answer.

If you’ve looked for an apartment in Ottawa recently, you know how hard it’s become.

We will be reviewing Ottawa’s R4 Zoning so we can make changes that encourage more affordable housing for more residents. Learn more about the review: https://t.co/I9bbgtSeN5 pic.twitter.com/ZCSvTNDWDt

— City of Ottawa (@ottawacity) July 22, 2019

The city wants to enable developers to provide more rental housing and ease tension on the city’s distressed rental market. It plans to do that by changing the zoning by-law to enable a wider array of multi-unit infill in R4-zoned neighbourhoods. Planners are preparing for public consultations to come this fall. Over the summer, the city is doing some technical work to ready for that, with the help of consultants and a multi-faceted technical review committee.

You can read more about the city’s review of R4 zoning on ottawa.ca, where they have a comprehensive and often-updated webpage about the project.

(And yes, one of those comments posted on the webpage came from me!)