A plan to allow larger homes throughout Surrey has been shelved.

Without clear consensus from the community, Surrey council decided Monday a city-wide rezoning of single family residential (RF) zones was off the table.

The city had been exploring an increase in home sizes on lots in excess of 560 metres (6,028 square feet), increasing the size limit of dwellings from the current 3,550 to 4,550 square feet.

The Surrey Residents Association (SRA) had been lobbying for the change for the past year.

On instruction from council, Surrey staff conducted five public information meetings over the last month that drew an unprecedented 2,300 people in total. A long-time planner with the city told The Leader he's never seen a turnout like it.

A staff report presented to council Monday indicated the public information meetings produced "no clear consensus" on whether the zoning changes should be implemented or not.

Coun. Marvin Hunt said a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood zoning process seemed like the logical alternative, as there wasn't overwhelming agreement to approve city-wide increases in home size.

On Monday, council directed staff to go back to the drawing board, instructing planners to develop a strategy for zoning change by individual neighbourhoods, rather than change all 65,000 RF zoned homes throughout the city.

It essentially brings to a halt efforts made by the SRA, which appeared before council last year with a plan to increase house sizes.

SRA spokesman Kalvinder Bassi could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

In the coming months, Surrey staff will devise a plan whereby neighbourhoods could be rezoned, similar to the process undergone by St. Helen's Park and Royal Heights.

In those subdivisions, residents fought for smaller home sizes, and 70 per cent of the community had to be in favour of the initiative.

Coun. Barinder Rasode said the recent process was an object lesson in how this city can improve its public information practices, a subject she says is "near and dear" to her heart.

"It means everything from having public information meetings that are two-way dialogues, to broader notice for residents where development is going to occur, to having information more readily available on the city's website," Rasode said Tuesday.

She also had concerns that members of the SRA were going to be caught unaware that the proposal was being shelved.

"Those are the kinds of lessons that have been learned from this," she said. "They're lessons that community activists have been trying to teach us for a very long time."

Staff will be reporting back to council in the coming months about the process each neighbourhood must undertake to obtain rezoning.

kdiakiw@surreyleader.com