Housing

FoNTRA supports the careful intensification of neighbourhoods and has been involved in the development of the new policies and regulations for Garden Suites to help ensure that the character of neighbourhoods is protected, and that the impacts on neighbours are acceptable.

We have continued to raise concerns most recently at Planning and Housing Committee including the following¹:

• The proposed Garden Suites Amendments should not apply at this time to lots where multiplex building types are permitted. And appropriate regulations should be developed for garden suites on lots with multiplexes in the multiplex study now underway;
• Separation distance of the primary building from the ancillary dwelling and where measurements are taken;
• The need for additional regulations for the conversion of existing ancillary buildings to protect light, view, and privacy of buildings on the lot and neighbours;
• Communications, monitoring of implementation, and needed supporting processes and information systems.

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This is to express our strong support in principle for Councillor Colle’s motion. House prices in Toronto are escalating rapidly month after month, year after year, making housing unaffordable for most Torontonians. These out of control housing prices are fueled by real estate speculators and house flippers (“investors”) who are buying multiple properties other than their primary residence. The Ontario Government is uniquely able to stop out-of-control housing prices by re-imposing a Land Speculation Tax to stop speculators from unfairly driving up the cost of housing in Toronto to unprecedented levels.

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FoNTRA wishes to submit extensive comments regarding the November 2021 Online Community Consultation for Garden Suites. We request that the draft Permissions, Official Plan Amendment (OPA) and Zoning By-law Amendment (ZBA) be revised accordingly. We thank you for agreeing to an extension until Dec 7, 2021 for our comments.

Garden Suites is a housing initiative affecting the Neighbourhoods designated lands within the FoNTRA boundaries as well as all neighbourhoods city-wide. FoNTRA established a Garden Suites Working Group (GSWG) which has been deeply involved in the review.

FoNTRA recognizes that Garden Suites represent a feasible option for additional housing in neighbourhoods, but we believe that they need to be designed responsibly, in a manner which preserves the green space system that exists in the neighbourhoods, and such that they do not negatively impact on the adjacent neighbours, and the neighbourhood character.

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This is to express our interest and support for the information provided in the above noted report. Our one comment is that the number of case studies is quite small and is likely insufficient to be sufficiently representative of the communities in the massive land area designated in the Official Plan as Neighbourhoods. We would encourage City Planning to undertake more case studies to reflect the diversity of Neighbourhoods which would support the planning analysis required for the “Multiplexes” initiative.

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FoNTRA members have participated in City Planning’s consultations to date and have submitted comments on earlier versions.

We remain concerned about two proposed changes that relax the current regulations: the increased permitted height; and the blanket exemption for walkways. The stated reason driving these changes is the frequency of variance requests at Committees of Adjustment. In our opinion such changes should not be based on Committee of Adjustment decisions without evaluating their reasons, if any, and without evaluating the impacts on abutting neighbours.

Proposed Increase in permitted height from 6m to 6.3m

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This is to express the strong support of the Federation of North Toronto Residents Associations (FoNTRA) for the proposed Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) policy.

The proposed policy lays the foundation for IZ in Toronto. It supports individuals and families in our city who earn too much to be eligible for social housing, but not enough to afford market rents and prices.  City Planning claims that the proposed framework balances the need to create more inclusive and equitable communities, provides certainty about expectations for affordable housing, and ensures the City continues to support overall housing supply. City Planning commits to monitor implementation of the new policy, and review and report back within three years.

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Iceberg houses are single-family houses with multi-storey underground basements below, and that may extend well beyond, the above-ground footprint of the structure. We have seen various examples recently, including the particularly notable instance in Hoggs Hollow.

In November 2020, the Committee of Adjustment approved an Iceberg home in Hoggs Hollow – a City designated Natural Heritage System located in a flood plain. Hoggs Hollow is also subject to a 1 hour evacuation in the event of a dam release on the Don River.  Despite numerous objections from Urban Forestry, a healthy 250 year old sugar maple was removed.

As a federation of resident associations we are concerned about the adverse impact of these structures, and the apparent lack of regulatory oversight.  It appears that the “iceberg aspects” are not subject to rigorous zoning and building code requirements.  These concerns include:

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This is to reiterate our support for the proposed regulatory framework for Multi-Tenant Houses, as previously communicated in our letter to the June 28 PHC.

Our reason for communicating again on this matter is to express our opposition to the motion moved by Councillor Ana Bailao, and adopted by PHC, regarding fraternity and sorority houses. They meet the definition of rooming houses and should be included in the regulatory framework.

Our members who have lived experience with such student housing properties in their neighbourhoods report that these properties, which have similar features of rooming houses, can, unfortunately, have similar negative impacts on neighbours. Not all fraternity and sorority houses manage themselves well, and ensure safe conditions, and the community suffers.

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1. Enforcement problems/life-threatening situations are reported with non-compliant and unlicensed Rooming Houses in zoned areas. What will be done between now and Nov. 1, 2022 in terms of inspection/enforcement to improve the situation? How will MLS and Toronto Fire make progress with these houses, especially the high risk priority houses, if they did not seek Budget allocations in 2021 to hire additional enforcement officers and fire inspectors, and are not planning to in 2022?
2. Within the City of Toronto, fraternity houses were deemed to be Rooming Houses and they were given 3 years to become licensed. This has not happened. How is the City going to deal with these houses between now and Nov. 1, 2022? Are additional inspection/enforcement officers required?
3. How will the City deal with illegal Rooming Houses between now and Nov. 1, 2022?

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This is to express our support in principle for the above noted report to create a new comprehensive regulatory and compliance framework (zoning bylaw amendments, licensing requirements), for Multi-Tenant Houses across Toronto.

We appreciate that this represents a cross-divisional multi-pronged initiative that has been a long time in development. We also note that City Planning delivered on our request made in connection with the earlier report (November 2020) to ensure that resident associations (including both tenants, homeowners) are given the opportunity to be engaged in the process of public and stakeholder engagement on the proposed zoning standards for city-wide permissions for multi-tenant housing.

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As you are aware the various Enhanced Housing Options in Neighbourhoods initiatives, especially laneway suites and garden suites, are of great interest, and raise some concerns for residents.

We are aware that the Garden Suites staff report is coming to PHC on June 28^th.  However we are of the opinion that the Laneway Suites Monitoring Report – a review of Laneway Housing initiatives – needs to be available to inform the consideration of Garden Suites and other initiatives. We have requested this throughout the public consultations. We also expressed that there needed to be resident engagement in the review.

Garden suites, as an additional unit on a lot, have much in common with laneway suites, that come with additional challenges from a public safety and community impact perspective. We believe there is unassailable logic of the need for the availability of the results of the laneway suites to inform the development of a garden suites policy.

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As you are aware the above noted survey has been (or was intended to be) distributed to all resident associations registered with the City. While we appreciate the attention to the views of residents of neighbourhoods, through their resident associations, we are hearing from our members of a number of serious operational concerns with the survey, as well as fundamental concerns about the whole initiative.

A number of active residents associations did not receive the survey when it was first sent out. Some of them received the link forwarded from other organizations such as FoNTRA, and likely several never did receive the survey, or received it very late, and did not have time by the deadline (March 17) to complete it.

Several RAs found that they were either unable to open the survey, or received a message that the organization had already completed the survey. The latter problem has led to the concern that, in some cases, individuals who may or may not represent the RA have completed the survey.

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