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Residental Secondary Units are now Legal

3/4/2014

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Effective January 2014, Secondary units are now allowed in all residential areas of Mississauga. To be legal, there is of course some paperwork and some inspections.

A secondary unit is a separate unit in a home, which can be a nanny suite, an in-law suite or an apartment within any detached, semi-detached, or townhome. If it has a separate entrance, a kitchen a bathroom, and a living space, it qualifies as a secondary unit. For the suite to be legal, you must meet the zoning requirements, get electrical and fire inspections and then apply for a licence.

If you currently have a secondary unit in your home, whether or not you are renting it, if someone lives there it must be licensed. Should the City suspect that there is a secondary unit in your home, they do have the authority to enter your home to establish compliance with the by-law. If you do not have a licence, there will be penalties, and probably “cease and desist” orders.

The zoning conditions are fairly simple: you must provide a parking space on the property without adding an additional driveway (i.e. you have to give the tenant a portion of the existing driveway), entrances cannot be added which face the street, and side entrances must allow clearance of 1.5 m.

The more difficult part of the process is ensuring the unit meets current building code requirements (if retrofit was done after 1994) and can pass the fire and electrical inspections. Since the inspections must be done within 30 days of applying for the licence, make sure you have already requested a Certificate of Occupancy from the City before proceeding with the inspections.

For more information on the by-law and the process for applying for a Second Unit Licence, visit mississauga.ca/secondunits


*Please note this article was originally published in the Spring 2014 edition of The Rockwood Times.

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Going Legal...

4/16/2012

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Mississauga is currently formulating new policies in regards to secondary units as the result of a mandate for all municipalities from the Ontario Government. A secondary unit is considered to be a basement apartment or a nanny suite.

While a secondary unit for family members is allowed, there are currently restrictions on renting out a basement apartment. In order to be deemed “legal” a basement apartment must first meet the standards set out by in the fire code. These include but are not limited to a secondary means of egress (two exits), fire doors and fire retardant drywall between units. Once the unit gets the fire department approval, the owner can then apply to the City for approval.

In the case of our area, this would probably require a zoning approval by means of an application for a minor variance to allow a change to the zoning to allow a rental unit. To approve the variance, all of your neighbours would be notified of your request and would have the option to oppose your application.

With a need for more affordable housing options, the Province is requiring all municipalities to now allow secondary units and could signal significant change to current by-laws and zoning.

The concerns for secondary units generally lie with the potential effect on the value of the neighbourhood property values; planning for sufficient services, such as schools, and emergency services; and possibly most importantly ensuring that the units are safe and will not end up as death traps in the event of fire.

For this reason, the City of Mississauga intends to reach out to residents for input in formulating a strategy for the implementation of the Provincial mandate on secondary units.

To this end, a series of public consultations will be held in February and March in various areas of the City culminating with a presentation on Rogers TV on March 6th. During this TV presentation, viewers will be able to go on line to make comments.

*Please note this article was originally published in the Spring 2012 edition of The Rockwood Times.

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