ReThink Zoning: Turning London’s Plans into Action

The London Chamber of Commerce has submitted its recommendations to the City of London on ReThink Zoning, the comprehensive rewrite of London’s zoning by-law.

This is more than a technical planning exercise.

Council has already adopted a new Economic Development Strategy and Downtown Reimagined, its ten-year Downtown Plan. Those strategies call for stronger investment, more businesses occupying vacant spaces, productive reuse of underused properties, a revitalised Downtown and growth in London’s creative economy.

The new zoning by-law will help determine whether those ambitions can actually be delivered.

The Chamber’s submission asks the City to apply a practical economic-development test to ReThink Zoning:

Will it become easier to open a business, reuse a building, invest in property and bring vacant and underused space back to life?

Among our recommendations, the Chamber is calling for:

• practical testing of the new zoning against real London properties and business models;
• greater flexibility for adaptive reuse, heritage buildings, creative businesses and modern employment uses;
• continued reduction of unnecessary parking requirements and a strategy to move strategic Downtown surface lots toward more productive uses;
• clearer and more proportionate rules for patios, temporary occupancy and neighbourhood-scale commercial activity;
• a review of how zoning and London’s Sound By-law interact as residential and cultural uses increasingly coexist; and
• a specific City of Music review to ensure London’s UNESCO designation has practical consequences for venues, rehearsal spaces, cultural businesses and creative production.

For London’s City of Music commitments, we propose a second test:

Will the new zoning by-law make it easier for the spaces, businesses and venues that make a genuine City of Music possible to exist and grow?

ReThink is a rare opportunity to align London’s regulatory framework with the economic and Downtown strategies Council has already adopted.

Have your say

Businesses and organisations should consider how the proposed zoning changes could affect their property, operations or future plans.

Some useful questions include: Does the proposed zoning permit what your business does today? Would it allow you to expand or change your business model? Could an existing building be put to a new use without unnecessary approvals? Are there provisions dealing with parking, patios, production, entertainment, mixed uses or other activities that could affect you?

Timing and deadlines

As of October 14, 2026, the City has not posted a closing date for comments on the first draft of ReThink Zoning. A statutory open house and Public Participation Meeting are expected later in the process, with separate notice of those dates.

Businesses should not wait for the formal hearing if they identify a concern. Providing comments early gives City staff an opportunity to consider practical issues as the draft evolves.

Comments can be submitted to the City’s ReThink Zoning Project Team at
ReThinkZoning@london.ca, quoting File Z-9619.

The Chamber is also available to speak with members who have questions about ReThink Zoning or who are considering making a submission. If you encounter a provision that could create an unnecessary barrier to investment or business activity, we would particularly like to hear about it.

[Read the London Chamber of Commerce’s full ReThink Zoning submission.]

Want to discuss how ReThink Zoning could affect your business? Contact the London Chamber of Commerce.