At the November 20,2017 Council meeting, Town Council asked Staff to initiate an amendment to the Town’s Zoning By-law 129-90, which would address the reuse and temporary uses of shipping/cargo containers in all zones within the Town.

New innovation towards reuse of these decommissioned shipping/cargo containers, has led to them being used for a wide variety of alternative uses in the Niagara Region and beyond. Some examples include: single detached homes, restaurants, coffee shops, bars, accessory structures etc.
Currently, the Town’s Zoning By-law 129-90 prohibits shipping/cargo containers on any land except temporarily in the Industrial IN Zone or Prestige Industrial PI Zones. In these industrial zones, a maximum of six cargo containers is permitted for no longer than two years.

The Town wants to consider how to permit shipping/cargo containers to be repurposed, while at the same time protect the beauty of our Town and safety of our residents. The approach the Town is taking is to propose new regulations to permit the reuse of these containers for main use buildings and accessory structures subject to special regulations such as limiting the number of containers, a building permit and in some instances site plan control.

In March 2018, Staff will be hosting public open houses to acquire feedback from the public. Following public consultation, Staff will provide a Council with another report outlining public feedback on the proposed new regulations.