House poor

Document pushes for guarantees on rent, affordable housing

Parkdale group seeks affordable housing,

Parkdale residents are organizing to stand up to developers and new businesses in an effort to bring more affordable housing to the community.

Dozens of residents gathered Wednesday night in the Queen West area to hear a presentation from members of Parkdale People’s Economy — a network of more than 30 community groups whose goal is to bring benefits to the neighbourhood.

The area is one of several in Toronto that have seen a spike in new condo and other developments. A number of housing complexes in West Queen West and Liberty Village are putting more pressure on local residents, said Mercedes Sharpe Zayas, one of the organizers, during the gathering at the Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre.

The developments, it’s widely complained, come with no commitment to include affordable housing.

“There’s a big concern (over) a deep lack of our community voice in matters of how change comes here,” she said.

“All we want is to place people at the centre, for residents to have a say in what’s happening in their neighbourhood.”

Parkdale People’s Economy has spent the last 18 months studying the issues, consulting with residents and hearing about what they want from both policymakers and developers.

Demands that came out of this process are in the new Parkdale Community Benefits Framework — new developers are asked to commit to providing affordable housing, to not apply for above-guideline rent increases, and to invest in adequate maintenance of their buildings.

Earlier this year, one building in Parkdale was at the centre of a rent-hike controversy, which ended with the landlord dropping the application for an increase above provincial guidelines.

In the benefits framework, investors are urged to commit to promote local opportunities by hiring people in the area, and to make long-term financial commitments to helping community initiatives.

Sharpe Zayas said the document containing these demands has been shared with city officials and will be presented to developers.

“Parkdale is a very special place,” said Anita Prasad, another member of the organizing group.

“We can’t let corporate profits dismantle our social cohesion and create some degree of displacement.”

In his first post-election news conference, Mayor John Tory said Wednesday he believes the cost of housing is one of the greatest challenges to the city.

He said 10 new sites for affordable housing have recently been identified by city staff — in addition to 48 previously identified sites — and some of them are parcels of land that have been vacant for years.

He said he is asking the federal and provincial governments to compile similar lists.

Tory added the city’s chief transformation officer is reviewing the entire planning, application and approval process for affordable housing and has been asked to provide a report within 30 days.

The hope is to streamline “a process that has become in many cases, too cumbersome and too slow.”