The Zoning Ritual

Whenever designing a contemporary house, before fashioning any ideas, thoughts, or goals, there is the need to complete the inevitable zoning site checklist. Zoning acts as both a physical and political construct to any project. It strives to create a democratic playing field for the architect to generate designs but within the larger city context.

Often these goals seem arbitrary at best. They represent the need to create a political order to the city landscape at macro scale while creating a framework at the micro scale. The two, in their own realms seem unrelated. However as a whole they can be seen as the fabric of our urban reality.

Rather than decrying the system, it is really up to the architect to question the rules themselves. Zoning guidelines are created to be generic so that they can apply to the majority of situations. The extent of grey area within them is quite large. I have found that if you review the rules carefully, they will often contradict each other despite the legal writing. When you present this to the building official they usually have three responses:

1. No (in which you are out of luck unless you push it to another level)
2. I will take that under consideration (which is then referred to some committee for review)
3. You are correct

I have found this to be the case throughout the jurisdictions I deal with in the Greater Vancouver region. By questioning the system and its nuance, it is possible to let the system capitulate to the specific situation. After all, the general principles of the bylaws are upheld while the idiosyncracy of the bureaucrats come into question. Most building officials realize that this is the case and they recognize that bylaws contain a certain organic quality that breathe and grow over time with the changing swell of public sentiment.