Sidewalk Labs to face ‘due diligence’

Waterfront Toronto creating a list of dos and don’ts for controversial project

Waterfront Toronto is establishing an “evaluation framework” — a list of dos and don’ts that Sidewalk Labs will have to abide by when the Manhattan-based firm presents its master plan for the high-tech neighbourhood it’s hoping to build on Toronto’s waterfront.

“We need to show very transparently why we decide to either go forward with the (master plan) or not. It needs to be grounded in deep analysis and due diligence,” Meg Davis, chief development officer for Waterfront Toronto, said in an interview Thursday afternoon.

“Sidewalk is busy working on their master plan and we’ll evaluate that with huge rigour,” Davis added.

Sidewalk Labs, a sister company of Google, is hoping to create a data-driven residential development near Queens Quay and Parliament St., a parcel of land called Quayside that is overseen by Waterfront Toronto.

The plan has been dogged by controversy over concerns about the use of data that will be collected from people who live and pass through the area.

It’s expected that Sidewalk Labs will bring forward a master plan next year for how it hopes to proceed with the development — and that plan will be evaluated by Waterfront Toronto and also made available for the public to weigh in on.

The evaluation framework — it will need to be approved by the Waterfront Toronto board, likely in the new year after stakeholder and expert input — will be used to assess that master plan, Davis explained.

The framework will address questions such as does Sidewalk’s master plan align with the planning goals of the waterfront, and is the business plan viable and in the public interest.

Other priorities include ensuring the project has minimal reliance on public sector funding, that it exceed Waterfront Toronto’s “affordable housing minimum requirement” in perpetuity and that there be a sufficient supply of middle-income housing.

As for the data issue, the framework will require a commitment not to share personal data with third parties including other Alphabet companies, that privacy protection be embedded, and that data not be used for advertising.

“This really is ... the thing people will look to to say was this (master plan) fair, was this in the public interest and did Waterfront Toronto do all the right things in assessing it,” Davis said.

Waterfront Toronto has faced criticism from some who say the corporation has not taken a leadership role on the proposed housing development, particularly when it comes to data.

Davis said establishing the evaluation points for the master plan is something the corporation would have done regardless.

Manhattan-based Sidewalk Labs is a sister company of Google