Guelph approves new height restrictions in the city

The intersection of MacDonell Street and Wyndham Street is seen in Downtown Guelph on Oct. 4, 2022. (Dan Lauckner/CTV Kitchener)

Guelph wants to grow up.

Council has approved a plan to raise the height restrictions on buildings in some areas of the city.

The decision, announced last Thursday, is meant to address housing needs.

“By building up these key growth areas, especially near our central transit station, the city is making it easier to bring more housing to Guelph,” said Mayor Cam Guthrie in a media release. “These new height allowances will ensure more people have a place to call home as our city grows and will amplify the vibrancy of the downtown core.”

The new maximum building height has now increased to 24 storeys in “peripheral areas” of downtown. Council said the change was meant to encourage growth but also preserve “the historic character of the city’s core” and protect the “iconic view of the Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate from Macdonell Street.”

The new rules will also apply to development on Stone Road and Edinburgh Road. The previous bylaw set the height restrictions in mixed use areas at six storeys. Those have now been increased to 18 storeys.

In high-density residential areas around Stone Road and Edinburgh Road, height limits have increased from 10 storeys to 14 storeys.

The city said they will also streamline the approvals process for development projects.

In order to qualify, however, builders must include affordable housing in their plan.

The city will now look at how the bylaw amendment could be applied to the downtown core but said there are no current plans to increase those building restrictions.