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Study Work Program Update

FoNTRA understands the importance of a vital and active planning function to the long-term health of the whole city, including thriving and complete communities. We recommend:

  • That City Council approve additional resources in the 2021 Toronto Budget for City Planning Division’s Study Work Program; and
  • that City Planning Division ensure that Studies, Plans and Guidelines directed to protection of neighbourhood character, i.e. HCD, CHRA, and Neighbourhood Guidelines are prioritized.  

City Planning Division’s activities basically consist of two streams: the Study Work Program, and Development Review. The Study Work Program, which includes such activities as Avenue Studies, Secondary Plans, Zoning By-law Updates, Heritage Conservation District (HCD) Studies, Community Heritage Resource Assessments (CHRA) and neighbourhood-specific Design Guidelines, is critical in order to advance the City’s strategic priorities, and also to strengthen the position of the City in dealing with development applications. It is also vital in dealing with a provincial government that does not respect the authority and jurisdiction of the City.

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City Planning Study Work Program Update

FoNTRA understands the importance of a vital and active planning function to the long-term health of the whole city, including thriving and complete communities. We recommend:

  • That City Council approve additional resources in the 2021 Toronto Budget for City Planning Division’s Study Work Program; and
  • that City Planning Division ensure that Studies, Plans and Guidelines directed to protection of neighbourhood character, i.e. HCD, CHRA, and Neighbourhood Guidelines are prioritized.

City Planning Division’s activities basically consist of two streams: the Study Work Program, and Development Review. The Study Work Program, which includes such activities as Avenue Studies, Secondary Plans, Zoning By-law Updates, Heritage Conservation District (HCD) Studies, Community Heritage Resource Assessments (CHRA) and neighbourhood-specific Design Guidelines, is critical in order to advance the City’s strategic priorities, and also to strengthen the position of the City in dealing with development applications. It is also vital in dealing with a provincial government that does not respect the authority and jurisdiction of the City.

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Municipal Muffler: Better Tools for Vehicular Noise Enforcement

Our members agree that loud vehicular emissions continue to be a major problem on many arterials and freeways around the City, as well as locations like plaza parking lots. We understand that enforcement is difficult. The use of occasional Police check points to catch offenders cannot be effective. The City of Toronto should be taking a proactive approach to reducing excessive noise, which is not just annoying, it is a health issue. Emerging technologies and equipment can offer more effective ways to enforce the noise by-laws.

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Development in Proximity to Rail: Official Plan Amendment

This is to advise of our support for this report and its recommendations to consult widely on its proposals.  

We note the report‘s reference to the extensive network of rail networks in Toronto; all wards in the city except one (Willowdale) being affected.  Further to this we recommend that the consultation involve all residents associations.

We also note that the report makes no mention of SafeRail, which is a national grass roots organization addressing safety matters in communities adjacent to rail lines. We suggest that this group be considered as a key stakeholder in the consultation.

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Protecting City Council’s Authority to Regulate Front Yard Parking Pads

The Front Yard Parking Bylaw permits parking pads despite the Zoning Bylaw prohibiting parking in front of a house. The Front Yard Parking Bylaw specifically lists neighbourhoods where parking pad are permitted. Such areas will have been included following a public consultation process prior to City Council approval. Then the licensing of each pad must be separately approved by the City. Detailed requirements must be met, such as the actual size and location of the pad, distances from trees, provisions for permeable paving and the requirement that the rest of the front yard area remain landscaped.

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Clearing the Path Towards a Safe and Accessible Winter

City Council and City staff are to be applauded for their efforts to ensure that residents have opportunities for outdoor recreation through the ActiveTO. program. Throughout the spring, summer and fall, people have taken to our outdoor spaces in large numbers to walk, run and bike while remaining physically distant. With the COVID-19 pandemic, walking and biking are more important than ever to physical and mental health, especially for seniors and people living with mobility challenges.

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Minister’s Zoning Orders strip provisions for notices, public meetings, and rights of appeal

FoNTRA considers the expanded use of MZOs a high-handed, illegitimate rule by fiat. The tool of MZOs was introduced at a time when many municipalities lacked Official Plans and effective zoning regulations. Provincial intervention was justified in such situation. Today, the conditions have changed materially since municipalities now control development with broad sets of planning tools. For the government to now invite municipalities – many with sophisticated planning resources on their own – to apply for MZOs represents a radical reversal of roles that can only damage the planning framework. Moreover, the Provincial Policy Statement protects the provincial interest and Provincial Plans – particularly the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe – give the Province effective control over development priorities without having to resort to MZOs. FoNTRA agrees, though, that during this pandemic, projects related to long-term care homes and supportive housing are emergencies where MZOs may be appropriate.

FoNTRA, respectfully, asks the government to confine the use of MZOs to extraordinary situations arising from the pandemic and to swiftly discard the recent wide- spread and undemocratic enhanced approach of backroom deals without notice, without public consultation, and without the right of appeal.

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Request to rescind the provincial regulation overriding Toronto’s Construction Noise By-law

This correspondence is provided to indicate our strong support for Councillor Wong-Tam’s Motion that “City Council request the Province of Ontario to immediately rescind Ontario Regulation 130/20”. Limitation 2 to Ontario Regulation 130/20, enacted April 7, 2020, does not allow the City to regulate or prohibit noise in connection with construction. The Regulation overrides the City of Toronto’s municipal noise by-law through to October 7, 2021, to the detriment of residents.

FoNTRA wrote to the Premier on April 19 to request that this measure (as well as making residential construction an essential service, opening a significant risk of COVID-19 infection to workers) be reversed. Excessive noise is a health hazard that impacts the physical and mental health, and quality of life of residents.

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Committee of Adjustment Applications Analyses and Service Improvements

FoNTRA is pleased to see the staff report outlining various application analyses and service improvements over the past two years.

While some process improvements, including efforts to standardize procedures across all four districts, have been accomplished, the overall question remains – are Neighbourhood Planning (City Planning), the Zoning By-law (City Planning), the Committee of Adjustment (City Planning), administration of the Zoning By-law (Building) and Building Permit issuing (Building) producing outcomes intended by the Official Plan?

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Committee of Adjustment – Panel Size and Structure

This communication is in support of staff report recommendations:

  • to increase the Committee of Adjustment (CoA) membership from 30 to 35 members, with two of the additional members assigned to the Toronto and East York (TEY) district and three to the Etobicoke York (EY) district;
  • that panel members be assigned to a district rather than a particular panel within a district.

We have no comment on the other administrative changes proposed.

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Public Input on City Council’s Governance System

This is to express FoNTRA’s strong support for the Proposal on Governance Changes and the work of the Special Committee (Proposal), submitted by the Harbord Village Residents’ Association (GV.New.GV1.2.1)

The provincially imposed changes to reduce the size of council has resulted in an increase in ward size, and in the councillor to resident ratio. We agree with Councillor Holyday that the governance issues facing the City of Toronto and its residents include:

“How the reduction in the size of Council has impacted, or may impact, the City’s governance; and Suggestions for changes to the City’s governance structure, including modernizing governance, following the reduction in the size of Council.”

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Budget Committee 2019 – FoNTRA comments

FoNTRA understands the importance of a vital and active planning function to the long- term health of the whole city including thriving and complete communities. Planning activities such as Avenue Studies, Secondary Plans, Zoning By-law Updates, Heritage Conservation District (HCD) Studies and neighbourhood-specific Design Guidelines are urgently required, yet the waiting lists for such studies and plans are long.

The City Planning Division is swamped by site-specific applications, including Zoning By-law Amendments (ZBAs), and minor variance and consent applications to the Committee of Adjustment. In addition City Planning is forced to deal with the backlog of appeals resulting from the influx of appeals made before the cutoff for the OMB and the establishment of the Local Planning Appeals Tribunal. (LPAT).

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development

Amendment 1 to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe

According to the government, the “proposed changes address implementation challenges with the Plan that were identified by the municipal and development sectors and other stakeholders” and “are intended to provide greater flexibility and address barriers to building homes, creating jobs, attracting investments and putting in place the right infrastructure while protecting the environment.” We note for the record that FoNTRA, as one of the most significant stakeholder organization in the Province representing the interests of residents, had not been consulted.

The stated purpose of the proposed changes is “to quickly address identified implementation challenges with the Plan and to not unfairly disrupt housing and other developments currently underway,” so as “to unlock land faster for residential and commercial development and support more jobs and housing.” This seems to suggest that there is a shortage of land available for development and may explain the proposed deletion of existing language describing one of the Growth Plan’s key underlying concepts: “There is a large sup- ply of land already designated for future urban development in the GGH. In some communities, there may be more land designated for development than is required to accommodate forecasted growth to the horizon of this Plan.” Is there a shortage or a large supply of land designated for future development?

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Midtown in Focus: Final Report Recommendations

As an organization that has participated actively in all stages of the Midtown in Focus (MiF) Planning process to date, as have a number of our member resident associations, we are unwilling to be drawn into recommending among a choice of options for part of the Plan area, viewed out of the context of consideration of the whole area, and at this late stage in a process that has been marked by strong public engagement efforts on the part of City Planning.

While MiF provides a planning framework for the future new development that results in significant residential intensification, it simply cannot proceed as provided for in the MiF plan without controls on the implementation. We offer a three part proposal to address this:

  1. permit employment generating developments and other non residential uses to proceed;
  2. restrict residential development to “small” projects (to be defined) and .
  3. develop a Phasing Plan for the MiF Plan that would be tied to transit and other missing infrastructure for the Yonge corridor actually coming on stream.

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Transit Planning Inquiry

We are writing to express our support for an updated inquiry into Toronto’s planning of major transit infrastructure projects.

We do not take a position on the manner by which such an inquiry is undertaken. How Toronto’s current transit investment plans are reviewed is a matter for City Council to decide. Nor do we wish to spend time debating how past decisions have been made. Our concern is with the present, and with what the future will bring. There is an urgent need for a review of transit investment priorities and for related development planning.

Our concern is simple: Transit capacity in Toronto’s central and midtown area — the corridor served by the Yonge Street subway— is already now overwhelmed in rush hours and at capacity even in off-peak daytime hours. It is often not possible in the morning rush-hour to board trains downtown from Eglinton or from stations south of Eglinton down to Bloor.

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Townhouse and Low-Rise Apartment Guidelines

We appreciate several aspects of the Guidelines, especially:

  • The “contextual approach” showing the evolution of, and the relationship between, the various typologies of the townhouse and low rise apartment building formats.
  • The principled approach to the statements of intent and direction
  • The requirement for a “block” context analysis for large sites
  • The practicability of the proposed actions, and case studies
  • The clear organization of the report and use of graphical presentations

However, the January 2018 edition of the Guidelines has been revised to incorporate several BILD comments. We strongly object to additional language on page 9 of the Introduction – How and where the guidelines apply (page 9) which refer to “balancing” of the need for new development to enhance and fit within the area context, and to accommodate housing in a growing city (see attachment).

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Inclusionary Zoning

This is to express our strong support for the Planning and Growth Management Committee’s recommendation to City Council (which endorsed the staff report recommendation) to request the Province to amend the proposed inclusionary zoning regulations, and to consult further with municipalities and stakeholders on an appropriate and flexible implementation framework for inclusionary zoning, prior to proclaiming the regulation.

The Province’s proposed rules would

  • Restrict municipalities from requiring more than 5% of new units to be affordable (or 10% if they are in a Major Transit Station Area);
  • Prevent municipalities from requiring developers to build affordable units if the new development is a rental building;
  • Require the municipality to contribute 40% of the cost of making the units affordable. These rules would mean that, despite municipalities being given new powers, virtually no affordable housing would be built.

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Waivers for Minor Variances

The Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations (“FoNTRA”) hereby requests that Toronto Building conduct a feasibility study for the elimination of the Use of Waivers in the identification of minor variances to the zoning by-laws for residential and commercial applications to the Committee of Adjustment (CofA).

The Waiver process started some years ago as an interim measure when a large backlog was created (and every application had to be redone) following the enactment of the consolidated By-law 569-2013.

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