Council Summary March 3, 2025

** The council summary below provides a snapshot of the major items presented at Monday’s council meeting. The council meeting webcast is available on the City of Waterloo YouTube page. Please refer to the minutes for an official record of the meeting.

Council approves new design concept for Wood Lily Park

Council approved a funding release to begin work on detailed design and eventual construction for Wood Lily Park in Vista Hills. The park site was originally intended to be constructed as natural amphitheatre, but conditions there have changed drastically since the West Side Natural Amphitheatre Study and Master Plan was approved in 2002. The site has become quite naturalized, with the edge of the forest now covering about half of the previous slope feature. Construction of an amphitheatre would encroach on the environmentally sensitive lands, as well as lead to accessibility, safety and maintenance concerns. The new design concept (available on page 62 of the Council packet), refined following public consultation in October 2024, includes a trailhead and lookout, covered seating and gathering space, tree planting, fitness equipment, and tennis court. The new park will be an asset to the community and the environment, providing a welcoming, inclusive and fun place to meet, play and explore.

Council approves coordinated online parking system pilot

Council approved funding for an online parking system that will see all the city’s parking options combined in a single system. The City offers a mix of parking options uptown and on city streets, including paid permit parking, temporary on-street permit parking, ‘no charge’ hourly parking and some paid-hourly parking. Staff will implement and evaluate an online parking system to make the process more efficient for the customer, city administration and parking enforcement. 

The same system can be used for monthly permits and hourly parking, with flexibility to allow for different options for customers, such as offering permits for a few days or a few weeks. There will also be enforcement efficiencies, integrating license plate readers with officers’ mobile devices and eliminating the need to check for a physical tag, chalk tires or verify parking across multiple platforms.

A single online parking system aligns with Council’s Innovation and Future-Ready strategic objective to identify digital opportunities for service to improve customer service and ensure coordination across the organization. The first phase for the online parking system is expected later this summer.

Infrastructure coming to support housing in Beaver Creek Meadows

Council approved the capital funding release to support the Beaver Creek Road and Conservation Drive Reconstruction project. The project includes reconstruction and urbanization of Beaver Creek Road and a portion of Conservation Drive, as well as the construction of two new sanitary pumping stations to service the Beaver Creek Meadows district and the Erbsville North area, expected to see an estimated 4,500 new housing units. This project will provide new infrastructure (road, water, wastewater, stormwater, active transportation facilities) required to support development in the Beaver Creek Drive and Erbsville Road areas in Waterloo, upgrading these corridors from rural to urban standards to provide significant safety and mobility enhancements for current and future users.

Council defers implementation of Inclusionary Zoning

Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) is a planning tool that requires a certain percentage of space for affordable housing units in new private developments. City of Waterloo Council previously approved Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendments to introduce IZ within major transit station areas, requiring new private developments along the ION route to include affordable rental units. Policies and regulations to support IZ were scheduled to come into effect on March 31, 2025. Staff had committed to an analysis of the local real estate market and consultation with the community and local development industry prior to implementation.

Planning staff have been working with Kitchener, Cambridge and the Region of Waterloo and the local development industry. A consultant report analyzing local conditions advises that the economics for development have become more complicated in recent years, and introducing IZ now could potentially further slow the recovery of the housing market, and make it more challenging to build in transit-oriented sites.

Council directed staff to return on March 24, 2025 to bring a Zoning Bylaw that would defer implementation of the Inclusionary Zoning provisions to an undetermined date in the future, and that staff report back in June 2025 with recommendations to propose a new implementation date. 

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Media contact:
Cari Van Niekerk
Director, Corporate Communications
cari.vanniekerk@waterloo.ca