jallan71
New Member
From the Daily Commercial News... Some interesting hints about Mayor's Tower Renewal Program, among other things.
http://dcnonl.com/article/id36947
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Daily Commercial News & Construction Record
January 4, 2010
Outlook 2010
Toronto Planning Division faces revenue, staffing challenges
PETER KENTER
correspondent
Toronto’s Planning Division has been caught between a rock and a hard place. Dependent on income from application fees, the division’s revenue has dropped, and staff has been cut by about one sixth.
With an ambitious workload designated for 2010 and projects carried over from 2009, the division will be stretched to capacity.
“The economic upheavals have certainly affected us,†says Gary Wright, Executive Director and Chief Planner, City of Toronto Planning. “Application numbers are down about 16 per cent, while the value of the applications is down over 48 per cent. Even so, the complexity of the projects is still significant. Toronto is a mature city, so all of its development is now infill, and the applications involve a significant amount of work.â€
Looking back, Wright says that 2009 saw a continuation of positive trends, with more then 75 per cent of growth occurring in areas designated for growth according to the city’s official plan, with the North York centre growing fastest of all. Living in the city core has also continued to remain desirable with a continuation of the trend toward downtown living. Wright’s recommendation that the city’s Design Review Panel Pilot Project become a permanent fixture was also approved by City Council in late 2009.
Up for 2010, will be an increased emphasis on the development customer.
“We need to become more customer focused,†says Wright. “On the other hand, quite frankly, we couldn’t have 100,000 residential units in the pipeline if we weren’t already solution oriented.â€
Wright says he will also complete a program review of the Planning Division, re-examining the structure that was put into place almost a decade ago.
The Planning Division also continues work on the Comprehensive Zoning By-law Project, designed to harmonize the city’s fractured system of bylaws generated over the past 50 years.
“We have to report in February and there’s a lot of effort required in trying to bring all of this together,†says Wright. “Someone noted that, along the way, we have five or six definitions of what constitutes an apartment house. This is where the division will be able to reduce that to one. We have over 1,500 definitions and we want to reduce that to about 185. We have over 13,000 provisions and we need about 1,700. Our intention is to take this through the next series of meetings, with the goal of getting to council in May with comprehensive bylaws.â€
Wright notes that the city has generated about 10,000 site-specific amendments that will be grandfathered, rather than incorporated into the new bylaws. Once finalized, the bylaws will be electronically accessible and clients will be able to access a web-based consultation service.
Also figuring heavily in next year’s planning will be the Mayor’s Tower Renewal Program.
The program will target the city’s most inefficient apartment towers, largely built from the 1950s to the 1970s, and aim to combine green technology with neighbourhood revitalization projects in a series of pilot projects. The city will also take a new approach to the regulation of chemicals for safety reasons in light of the Sunrise Propane explosion of 2008.
“We will be proceeding with this very carefully,†says Wright. “We don’t want to put a lot of industries into non-conformity.â€
Other major Planning Division activities will include work on Toronto’s Transit City initiative, the Mid-Rise Typology Study and the implementation of the Toronto green roof bylaw
The factor with the greatest potential to affect development in 2010?
“I’d say it was the upcoming municipal election,†says Wright. “The election is the elephant in the closet and the new mayor may have an interesting way of etting the new agenda.â€
Wright spoke at a symposium presented by the Canadian Urban Institute.
http://dcnonl.com/article/id36947
**
Daily Commercial News & Construction Record
January 4, 2010
Outlook 2010
Toronto Planning Division faces revenue, staffing challenges
PETER KENTER
correspondent
Toronto’s Planning Division has been caught between a rock and a hard place. Dependent on income from application fees, the division’s revenue has dropped, and staff has been cut by about one sixth.
With an ambitious workload designated for 2010 and projects carried over from 2009, the division will be stretched to capacity.
“The economic upheavals have certainly affected us,†says Gary Wright, Executive Director and Chief Planner, City of Toronto Planning. “Application numbers are down about 16 per cent, while the value of the applications is down over 48 per cent. Even so, the complexity of the projects is still significant. Toronto is a mature city, so all of its development is now infill, and the applications involve a significant amount of work.â€
Looking back, Wright says that 2009 saw a continuation of positive trends, with more then 75 per cent of growth occurring in areas designated for growth according to the city’s official plan, with the North York centre growing fastest of all. Living in the city core has also continued to remain desirable with a continuation of the trend toward downtown living. Wright’s recommendation that the city’s Design Review Panel Pilot Project become a permanent fixture was also approved by City Council in late 2009.
Up for 2010, will be an increased emphasis on the development customer.
“We need to become more customer focused,†says Wright. “On the other hand, quite frankly, we couldn’t have 100,000 residential units in the pipeline if we weren’t already solution oriented.â€
Wright says he will also complete a program review of the Planning Division, re-examining the structure that was put into place almost a decade ago.
The Planning Division also continues work on the Comprehensive Zoning By-law Project, designed to harmonize the city’s fractured system of bylaws generated over the past 50 years.
“We have to report in February and there’s a lot of effort required in trying to bring all of this together,†says Wright. “Someone noted that, along the way, we have five or six definitions of what constitutes an apartment house. This is where the division will be able to reduce that to one. We have over 1,500 definitions and we want to reduce that to about 185. We have over 13,000 provisions and we need about 1,700. Our intention is to take this through the next series of meetings, with the goal of getting to council in May with comprehensive bylaws.â€
Wright notes that the city has generated about 10,000 site-specific amendments that will be grandfathered, rather than incorporated into the new bylaws. Once finalized, the bylaws will be electronically accessible and clients will be able to access a web-based consultation service.
Also figuring heavily in next year’s planning will be the Mayor’s Tower Renewal Program.
The program will target the city’s most inefficient apartment towers, largely built from the 1950s to the 1970s, and aim to combine green technology with neighbourhood revitalization projects in a series of pilot projects. The city will also take a new approach to the regulation of chemicals for safety reasons in light of the Sunrise Propane explosion of 2008.
“We will be proceeding with this very carefully,†says Wright. “We don’t want to put a lot of industries into non-conformity.â€
Other major Planning Division activities will include work on Toronto’s Transit City initiative, the Mid-Rise Typology Study and the implementation of the Toronto green roof bylaw
The factor with the greatest potential to affect development in 2010?
“I’d say it was the upcoming municipal election,†says Wright. “The election is the elephant in the closet and the new mayor may have an interesting way of etting the new agenda.â€
Wright spoke at a symposium presented by the Canadian Urban Institute.