Outdated bylaws impede building growth in GTA
Our provincial and municipal governments choose what type of housing gets built, where it is built and how high it is built.
Understanding which level of government is responsible for those different aspects of homebuilding can be very confusing. But one thing is for certain: if municipal governments cannot align their zoning bylaws with provincial housing policy, it will impede the construction of much-needed housing in the GTA.
The province tells municipalities where it wants development and at what density. It has been doing this for more than a decade with its Places to Grow legislation that emphasizes intensification as a means of curbing perceived urban sprawl, and as a way to accommodate forecast growth in complete communities.
Yet municipalities are operating with badly outdated bylaws that do not support the provincial intensification policy.
Despite this, our industry does its best to comply with the province’s Places to Grow development policy with rezoning applications — which are costly and inefficient. Still, our industry has been building to a more intensive pattern of development for years, in an effort to meet provincial requirements.
Outdated zoning makes what already is a long approvals process even longer, and contributes significantly to delays in bringing projects to market. This, in turn, means additional costs for new homebuyers.
Having all GTA municipalities update their zoning bylaws would help to alleviate these issues and would enable the industry to build much-needed housing.
After amalgamation in 1998, Toronto had more than 40 zoning bylaws, some dating back to the 1950s, that were inherited from the six different cities. As you can imagine, community needs have changed dramatically over the years. Some areas of the city were updated with new zoning prior to Places to Grow but the changes raised density permissions only slightly.
The city of Toronto is projected to grow by an average of 70,000 people a year through to 2041. Proper steps are required to ensure that people have homes to live in. This becomes a challenge when zoning bylaws do not match with provincial intensification policies.
For example, areas on and around the Eglinton West LRT, which is part of the city’s SmartTrack initiative, traditional- ly were zoned for low-density development, while Places to Grow says it should be used for transit-oriented highrise communities.
There also is a clear disconnect between public policy and public perception. Community opposition to intensification is a growing challenge in the GTA, and outdated zoning bylaws contribute to this disconnect.
New development in existing communities has many local residents worried about the growing impact higher densities could have on the established neighbourhoods.
Now, more than ever, zoning bylaws need to be updated. With municipal elections approaching this fall, BILD will be asking the tough questions about how we can work together to make this vision a reality.