Town hosting open house July 14 for zoning bylaw review
July 1, 2026 at 3:46 AM
Fort Erie property rules are due for a full rewrite, and residents get their first close look July 14 before the town drafts the bylaw that will govern what can be built.
The town will hold a public open house from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Leisureplex on Municipal Centre Drive to explain its zoning bylaw review. The new bylaw will replace Fort Erie’s current zoning bylaw, which dates back to 1990, and will apply to most properties in town.
Zoning controls how land can be developed. It sets rules for permitted land uses, building types, setbacks, building heights, parking and other site standards.
The review follows the town’s new Official Plan, which council adopted in August 2025. Ontario’s Planning Act requires municipalities to bring zoning bylaws into line with a new Official Plan within three years.
Fort Erie’s current zoning bylaw, known as Bylaw 129-90, has not gone through a full review since council adopted it on May 28, 1990. A draft technical memo prepared for the town says the bylaw has gained almost 800 individual amendments since then.
The July 14 open house will start with an introductory presentation on the project. Residents can then speak directly with members of the project team during a drop-in session. Registration is not required.
The town says the review will examine each property in Fort Erie to determine whether the current zone and rules still fit. That work covers residential, commercial and employment lands.
The new bylaw will also deal with agricultural lands, parks, open space, environmentally sensitive areas and hazard lands. Strategic growth areas will be handled through a separate community planning permit system now being developed by the town.
The review will look at ways to make the document clearer and easier for residents, landowners, builders and town staff to follow.
The memo also points to repeated pressure points in the current system. More than 200 minor variances were approved between 2023 and 2025, with most concentrated in residential zones.
Recent local interest in property zoning has sharpened around Velocity1 Group’s 400-acre employment land site beside the QEW, where residents have raised concerns to town hall and council about a proposed data centre in Fort Erie.
The Mississauga developer called the property location an “unparalleled opportunity” for a data centre, but told CBC News it has no current plans to build one, and Mayor Wayne Redekop has said the town has received no application or pre-consultation request.
A first draft of the updated zoning bylaw is expected during the summer-to-fall phase of the review. A final draft is expected to go to a statutory public meeting before council considers adoption in the winter of 2027.
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Andrew Hawlitzky
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