I'd suggest that despite the hate on Thorne here, Thorne is a very progressive and thoughtful urban planner. His staff have crafted great policy that encourages development throughout the city. I understand the hate for the height restrictions, but speaking to him about it, it makes sense. With LRT, demand will be stretched throughout the city, and at the same time the city wants redevelopment of the downtown, and without a height limit, the density demand would be met by fewer buildings, and speculation of the downtown would increase. It's actually sound policy, though it has its flaws.
The current zoning policy of Hamilton isn't perfect, but it's pretty decent. The most recent changes really improved the environment, but I'd like to see further changes to reduce restrictions. Toronto is a great place to take some ideas from like the removal of parking minimums, and the allowance of certain types of commercial in residentially zoned neighbourhoods. Hamilton recently allowed up to 4-plexes as well in many parts of the city, however it's only if the building looks like a single family house, which is a not great policy.
Im a big fan of many of the zoning policies in Hamilton. I'd like to see the TOC be expanded a bit both adding it to future transit lines, like the A-line, but also increasing the distance from stations. TOC zoning should expand at least 750m from any LRT station. Some places it is like 20m then back to detached housing zoning which is obviously nuts.
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