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Zoning · Burlington · Residential

HN zone, Burlington: High-Rise Neighbourhood (HN)

By-law 09-2026 Part 7, Sections 7.1, 7.2 (Table 7), 7.8 (Table 14); referenced Sections 7.7 (Tables 12, 13) and 7.3 (Table 8, LN1 column) of the City of Burlington Zoning By-law 09-2026 / 2020.

A high-rise residential zone for apartment buildings and all townhouse forms, plus new detached houses that include at least two extra attached units, with small ground-floor shops, personal services and restaurants allowed on major streets.

Is a property in the HN zone? Enter its address and the lookup returns the zone and these standards, including any site-specific exception.

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What the HN zone permits

  • Detached dwelling (new, only if it contains a minimum of two additional residential units - attached; Table 7 note 3)
  • Block townhouse
  • Street townhouse
  • Rear lane townhouse
  • Back-to-back townhouse
  • Stacked townhouse
  • Stacked back-to-back townhouse
  • Apartment building
  • Personal service (ground floor of a street townhouse or apartment building adjacent to a Major Arterial, Multi-Purpose Arterial, Urban Avenue or Main Street on Schedule B, max 300 m2 GFA; Table 7 note 6)
  • Restaurant standard (same conditions as Table 7 note 6)
  • Restaurant take-out (same conditions as Table 7 note 6)
  • Retail store (same conditions as Table 7 note 6)

Standards

RequirementBy-law
Minimum lot area (interior lot)2000 m²Table 14 (apartment building): 0.2 ha. Townhouse forms use s.7.7 (Table 12: block 4000 m2, street 160 m2 (145 m2 on private street), rear lane with detached rear garage 165 m2 / with integral rear garage 115 m2, back-to-back 80 m2 applied to each unit where multiple back-to-back townhouses are on one lot (note 9); Table 13: stacked / stacked back-to-back 2,000 m2). Detached dwellings use LN1 (Table 8): 225 m2.
Minimum lot width (interior lot)30 mTable 14 (apartment building): 30 m. Townhouses per s.7.7 (Table 12 'lot frontage or unit width': block 5.5 m, street 6 m (5.5 m on private street; 9 m corner lot), rear lane 5.5 m (8.5 m corner lot), back-to-back 6 m applied to each unit where multiple back-to-back townhouses are on one lot (note 9); Table 13: stacked / stacked back-to-back 50 m). Detached (LN1): 7.5 m.
Minimum front yard3 mTable 14 (apartment building): minimum 3 m; maximum front yard 7.5 m. Townhouses per s.7.7 (block 4.5 m; street, rear lane, back-to-back, stacked and stacked back-to-back 3 m; 5.5 m to the garage door of a private garage for the stacked forms, Table 13 note 1). Detached (LN1): 3 m, may be reduced to the established front yard with a minimum 1 m setback from the street line.
Minimum interior side yard4 mTable 14 (apartment building): 4 m in all other cases; where abutting an LN1 to LN7 zone: storeys 1-3: 5.5 m, storeys 4-6: 14.5 m, storeys 7 and above: 25 m. Townhouses per s.7.7: 1.2 m, except 4 m where abutting a detached or semi-detached dwelling in an LN4, LN5 or LN6 zone (Table 12 note 7, Table 13 note 2); for street, rear lane and back-to-back townhouses only, no setback is required where the interior side lot line shares a common wall (Table 12 note 6). Detached (LN1): 1.2 m one side, 0.6 m other side (3 m on the side leading to a detached private garage in the rear yard).
Minimum exterior side yard3 mTable 14 (apartment building): minimum 3 m; maximum exterior side yard 7.5 m. Townhouses per s.7.7: 3 m (5.5 m to the garage door of a private garage for stacked and stacked back-to-back townhouses, Table 13 note 1). Detached (LN1): 3 m, may be reduced to the established exterior side yard with a minimum 1 m setback from the street line.
Minimum rear yard7.5 mTable 14 (apartment building): 7.5 m in all other cases; where abutting an LN1 to LN7 zone: storeys 1-3: 7.5 m, storeys 4-6: 16.5 m, storeys 7 and above: 25.5 m. Townhouses per s.7.7 (block 7.5 m; street 6 m; rear lane 1.75 m to a private garage; back-to-back 0 m; stacked 6 m (7.5 m where abutting a detached or semi-detached dwelling in an LN4, LN5 or LN6 zone); stacked back-to-back 0 m). Detached (LN1): 6 m.
Maximum building heightSee noteApartment buildings: see Maximum Heights shown on the Zoning Maps in Schedule A (Table 14); maximum podium height 3 storeys. Townhouses (block, street, rear lane, back-to-back): 14 m peaked roof / 10 m flat roof (Table 12); stacked and stacked back-to-back townhouses: 18 m peaked / 13 m flat (Table 13). Detached dwellings: 14 m peaked roof / 10 m flat roof (s.7.8 a).
Maximum lot coverageSee noteNot stated for apartment buildings or townhouses. Detached dwellings use LN1 (Table 8): 50%.
Minimum landscaped open space35 %Table 14 (apartment building): 35%. Stacked / stacked back-to-back townhouses: 35% (Table 13); block townhouses: 30% (s.7.7 e v). Detached (LN1): 30% front yard soft landscaped open space only.

Other provisions in this section

  • Detached dwellings in HN follow the LN1 requirements of Section 7.3 (Table 8) except maximum building height is 14 m for a peaked roof or 10 m for a flat roof (s.7.8 a).
  • All townhouse forms in HN follow the Section 7.7 (LN8) requirements: Table 12 for block, street, rear lane and back-to-back townhouses; Table 13 for stacked and stacked back-to-back townhouses (s.7.8 b).
  • Apartment building (Table 14): maximum front yard 7.5 m; maximum exterior side yard 7.5 m.
  • Apartment building (Table 14): minimum stepback of a tower or upper building from a podium 3 m; maximum podium height 3 storeys; minimum tower separation distance 25 m.
  • Apartment building (Table 14): minimum setback of a tower to a lot line that is not the street line 12.5 m; of an upper building 10 m.
  • Apartment building (Table 14): common amenity area 5 m2 per unit, including at least one contiguous outdoor area of 55 m2 at ground level or on the roof of a podium, tower or building (note 1).
  • Podium separation (s.7.8 d i): 15 m between podium walls both containing windows; 2.4 m where neither wall has windows; 8.5 m where one wall has windows and the other does not.
  • Minimum distance from an end wall to an internal roadway 1.5 m; from any other wall 3 m (s.7.8 d ii, iii).
  • A podium shall be provided for mid-rise buildings and tall buildings (s.7.8 d iv).
  • Two or more non-residential uses in an integrated planned development with common parking and driveways are subject to the Retail Centre off-street parking standard in Table 3 (s.7.8 d v).
  • Non-residential uses (personal service, restaurants, retail) limited to the ground floor of a street townhouse or apartment building adjacent to a Major Arterial, Multi-Purpose Arterial, Urban Avenue or Main Street (Schedule B), maximum 300 m2 gross floor area (Table 7 note 6).
  • Townhouses (Table 12): common amenity area 10 m2/unit for block townhouses (incl. at least one contiguous outdoor area of 55 m2 at ground level); private amenity area 20 m2/unit rear lane with detached garage, 15 m2/unit rear lane with integral garage and back-to-back; front yard soft landscaped open space 25% street and back-to-back, 50% rear lane; maximum attached units 8 (16 for back-to-back).
  • Where multiple back-to-back townhouses occur on one lot, the Table 12 lot area, lot frontage and amenity area regulations apply to each unit (Table 12 note 9).
  • Street and back-to-back townhouses (s.7.7 d): garage door openings facing a street max 50% of the building elevation; pedestrian entrances facing a front or exterior side yard max 7 stair risers above grade; back-to-back unit lot/unit depth min 13 m.
  • Block townhouses (s.7.7 e): building separation on the same lot 2.4 m side-to-side, 12 m rear-to-rear, front-to-front and front-to-rear, 7.5 m side-to-front/rear; side wall to internal roadway/parking 1.5 m, other walls 3 m; integral garage to internal roadway 5.5 m; landscaped open space min 30%; entrances max 7 stair risers.
  • Rear lane townhouses (s.7.7 f): pedestrian entrances facing a front or exterior side yard max 7 stair risers above grade.
  • Stacked and stacked back-to-back townhouses (Table 13, s.7.7 g-h): minimum unit width 5 m / 5.5 m; common amenity area 10 m2/unit (incl. 55 m2 contiguous outdoor area); maximum building length 60 m; 5.5 m front/exterior side yard to a garage door; fourth storey stepback 3 m when abutting a detached or semi-detached dwelling in LN4-LN6; same building separation (2.4 / 12 / 7.5 m) and roadway distances (1.5 m side wall, 3 m other walls) as block townhouses; entrances max 7 stair risers.
  • Detached dwellings (s.7.3 b): garage door openings facing a street max 50% of the elevation width; an attached garage with a door facing a street may not project beyond the longest street-facing wall containing first-storey residential floor area (or past an attached porch); pedestrian entrances max 7 stair risers; rear yard may be 4.5 m on a corner lot; accessory buildings and structures per Section 5.2.

Source: By-law 09-2026 Part 7, Sections 7.1, 7.2 (Table 7), 7.8 (Table 14); referenced Sections 7.7 (Tables 12, 13) and 7.3 (Table 8, LN1 column), By-law 09-2026 / 2020 (City of Burlington), checked 2026-09-12. General provisions elsewhere in the by-law (parking, driveways, accessory buildings) also apply, and a numbered exception on the parcel can change any value here. Treat this as a pre-check, not a sign-off.

Other residential zones in Burlington: DRH, DRL, DRM, LN1, LN2, LN3, LN4, LN5, LN6, LN7, LN8, R1.1, R1.2, R2.1, R2.2, R2.3, R2.4, R3.1, R3.2, R3.3, R3.4, R4, R5, RAL1, RAL2, RAL3, RAL4, REV1, REV2, REV3, RH1, RH2, RH3, RH4, RH5, RM1, RM2, RM3, RM4, RM5, RNA1, RNA2, RNA3, RO1, RO2, RO3, RO4, SNA, URH, URM