The Town of Ladysmith has given first and second reading to their in-house secondary suites bylaw.
The move, which came at the August 15 meeting, makes way for a public hearing at the September 19th meeting.
The bylaw was originally prepared in July, but was given back to staff to revise.
Wording in the bylaw made it possible for renters to operate a home-based business, changes the definition of single family dwelling to incorporate suites, and limits suites in bed and breakfasts on lots less than 1,000 square metres.
The bylaw says secondary suites must not exceed 40 per cent of the gross floor area (or 90 square metres) and that off-street parking must be required as per the town’s parking bylaw.
Felicity Adams, director of development services, said this is the public hearing to discuss the bylaw changes for in-house suites. Final decisions on detached suites are not to do with this bylaw and will come at a later date when council starts that phase of its secondary suites process.
When legalizing in-house suites was talked about earlier this year, council decided it was going to relax some of the B.C. building code guidelines for suite design, such as ceiling height, as they cannot be changed.
There will be no relaxation of guidelines around health and safety requirements such as exits and windows.