About the project 

Cochrane’s Municipal Development Plan (MDP) identifies the importance of providing a range of housing options to suit all ages and income levels in our community. The Town of Cochrane’s Land Use Bylaw outlines the regulations that landowners must follow to add a suite to their property.

Administration is currently updating these regulations and is looking for public input.

There are two types of suites allowed in the Town of Cochrane:

• Accessory suite: a self-contained dwelling in the basement of the main residence with its own cooking, living, sleep and sanitary facilities.
• Garden suite: a self-contained dwelling unit in the rear yard of a residential lot that also has a house. These are located in a separate building and are either one storey in height or above a detached garage.

This update is to clarify locations, numbers of units allowed and parking requirements to improve the fit with existing communities.

Provide your input

In March and April 2019, we asked residents to provide feedback on where suites should be allowed, the number of suites that should be allowed, the number of require parking stalls, and their concerns related to suites. Their input can be found in the What We Heard Report (right hand side of this page).

The feedback was taken into consideration when finalizing the proposed changes to the accessory suite and garden suite regulations.