October 2015
In early 2013 the City of Toronto launched a two-phase public consultation process to engage people on a range of issues related to city planning and condo living. The report from these consultations provides 26 recommendations.
Five general issues stood out as being most important to participants or improving their lifestyle: coordinating new development with services and infrastructure which includes addressing traffic congestion, transit crowding and lack of green spaces; amenities for dogs and other pets; parking for visitors; community building; and information sharing.
“One of the strongest messages to emerge from the consultation was that ‘there is an overarching need to coordinate city planning with the provision of all types of infrastructure (transportation, transit, parking, parks, recreation amenities, hydro) to ensure neighbourhood planning is done at the neighbourhood scale, not condo by condo, and that infrastructure can handle the increased density.’”
The Chief Planner and Executive Director provided twelve recommendations including;
- Two recommendations to facilitate the allowing of public access to voting places in condo buildings
- Develop a protocol to facilitate the short term lease or use of ground floor retail space in condo buildings by arts and culture groups
- More flexible parking regulations in condo declarations and by-laws
- Designation of smoke-free buildings
Coordinating new development with services and infrastructure
Of particular interest in the report is apparent recognition of general dissatisfaction with city planning.
“One of the strongest messages to emerge from the consultation was that ‘there is an overarching need to coordinate city planning with the provision of all types of infrastructure (transportation, transit, parking, parks, recreation amenities, hydro) to ensure neighbourhood
planning is done at the neighbourhood scale, not condo by condo, and that infrastructure can handle the increased density.’”
In response to this general dissatisfaction the report notes that “Staff and councillors are well aware of congestion problems in the City. A plethora of initiatives are addressing it. These include the Congestion Management Plan and the Downtown Traffic Operations Strategy which were endorsed by City Council in December 2013, the Downtown Infrastructure and Growth study …” The report goes on to state that “The Official Plan reinforces this direction, as well as the current ‘Feeling Congested’ review of those policies.”
