Latest news with #PlanningandHousingCommittee
Toronto Sun
05-06-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
City Council to consider expansion of five and six-plexes across Toronto
In markets like Toronto, the gap has steadily increased significantly in the past five years due to the fact that the land to build more housing is so scarce. In an attempt to help deliver on the provincial target of 285,000 new homes in Toronto by 2031, city staff have proposed various recommendations to increase housing options, including expanding permissions for five- and six-unit lowrise multiplexes across all residential neighbourhoods in the city. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The proposed actions will be considered by the Planning and Housing Committee on June 12. The city says this action would apply to both new construction and conversions of existing detached houses, increasing flexibility and creating new opportunities for homeowners and homebuilders. 'These recommendations are based on in-depth research and data and illustrate the range of housing opportunities that could be available to Torontonians in the years ahead,' Councillor Gord Perks (Parkdale-High Park), Chair, Planning and Housing Committee, said in a statement. 'The proposed zoning bylaw amendments can help unlock many more homes, but also enable more vibrant, thriving neighbourhoods for current and future residents across the city.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More In particular, the recommendations to expand lowrise six-plexes and permit apartment infill developments across Toronto fulfill commitments made by the City under the $471.1 million agreement with the Government of Canada through the Housing Accelerator Fund. 'The City of Toronto is using the tools available to us to update planning rules and make it easier to build housing in more places citywide,' Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said in a statement. 'In the midst of an urgent housing crisis, these changes will help accelerate the construction of new homes and support complete communities across Toronto.' Ontario Columnists Olympics Columnists NHL
CBC
01-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Willowdale housing project for homeless seniors underway after years of community pushback, delays
Social Sharing After years of delays, rising costs and local backlash, a supportive housing development intended to fast-track seniors out of homelessness is underway in Toronto's Willowdale neighbourhood. A planned three-storey modular building on Cummer Avenue is now scheduled to open by early next year, the city says, four years after the city's Planning and Housing Committee unanimously approved a plan to quickly build modular housing on the city-owned property. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow spoke with reporters at an announcement in Willowdale Thursday, saying the project will get 59 seniors off the streets, helping them live independently and age in place. "It will be a home for a whole lot of seniors that have had mental health issues and have addiction issues," she said. "It's an important day." The building will offer 59 supportive housing units, all studio apartments, with rent geared to income, Chow said. Non-profit WoodGreen Community Services will manage the building and provide wraparound supports for tenants. "I hear the hammering in the background. This is a sound of joy, because we've waited for so long," Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters at the development. But the lead-up to Thursday's announcement wasn't filled with much joy. Local resistance leads to years of delays The project immediately met with resistance when it was announced in 2021, as part of a modular housing program launched the year before in response to the city's housing shortage and the COVID-19 pandemic. Modular housing is made up of factory-built, modular sections that allow it to be constructed and, ideally, opened very quickly. But the province refused a city request to speed up the development's planning approval timeline to get the units in place before the winter of 2021-2022. A community group also opposed the development from the beginning, ultimately filing an unsuccessful appeal with the Ontario Land Tribunal. The group had argued the modular homes would fundamentally change the character of the neighbourhood, and make it harder for residents or visitors of Willowdale Manor to find parking and enjoy local green space. They also worried about security at the site and said the city hadn't properly consulted locals. Delays followed, which Chow says cost the city millions, as the pre-fabricated components of the building had to be stored for years, raising the total price tag to $36.2 million. Lawyer Eric Gillespie, who represented the community group in the appeal, says his clients were never opposed to building supportive housing in the area. They just wanted to ensure it was for seniors, after the city initially said the project was for people exiting homelessness, and did not designate it for seniors specifically. The group thought that housing for seniors would be a better fit for the location, Gillespie said, with a seniors housing complex already next door and a long-term care facility nearby. "But now that the city is saying, 'Oh, it'll be fine for seniors and older residents,'" Gillespie said. "It sure would have been helpful to just say that a long time ago." Willowdale Coun. Lily Cheng told reporters Thursday that "it was difficult for the city to provide that assurance earlier in the process." Advocate calls pushback 'high-octane NIMBYism' But one advocate says it's not that simple. "This was a case where a lot of money was thrown at blocking this. This is high-octane NIMBYism," said Mark Richardson, technical lead of HousingNowTO. "Now, thankfully, all of those avenues of appeal have now been exhausted," he said. "But the money that they wasted on locking or fighting this project would be much better spent as a donation to a local shelter or food bank." When compared with other similar projects, he says there's no reason the site shouldn't already be open. Four other modular housing initiatives the city announced in 2020 and 2021 have been completed for years now, according to the city's website, providing a total of 216 homes. Cheng said Thursday the delays and cost escalations were unfortunate, but the city needed the community's trust to proceed. In the face of community opposition, Cheng previously introduced a motion to city council to explore other sites for the project. But with the original location now finally under construction, Chow says the city still needs an additional 26,000 supportive housing units. "We're only building 50 to 60 today," Chow said. "We need a lot more so that those seniors that are right now lining up on food banks … that they would have a place to live."
