Building Futures: The Changes Toronto Needs

(L-R) Gary Switzer, Peter Milczyn, Adam Vaughan, Jennifer Keesmaat

On March 6, 2014, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) hosted “Building Futures in Toronto,” a live and interactive conversation featuring Toronto Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmaat, councillor of Ward 20 Trinity Spadina Adam Vaughan, and councillor of Ward 5 Etobicoke Lakeshore Peter Milczyn. The discussion was moderated by BILD Toronto Chapter Chair Gary Switzer of MOD Developments.

The Building Futures conversation was about just that; how does the development industry work with the City to continue producing affordable, high-quality homes for Greater Toronto Area (GTA) residents? Many interesting points were discussed, but it all seemed to boil down to these three topics: The Development Permit System, Affordability, and Accountability.

The Development Permit System (DPS)

As most in the industry know, practically every parcel of land in Toronto needs to be rezoned when submitting a development application. The zoning bylaws are not up to date, and it adds time and money to the development process.

The DPS is being designed to effectively determine what a certain area of the city needs with regard to development and infrastructure. Keesmaat is working with the Planning & Growth department to collect criteria that is essential to evaluate the needs of neighbourhoods and to determine where development should occur.

Keesmaat explained that once the DPS is fleshed out, they will be able to repeal zoning for certain areas and make it so that only a permit is necessary to build in that location. This would make the approval process much faster, and it would allow transparency on how development charges are dispersed, providing a clear outline as to what the area requires for healthy, sustainable growth.

Affordability   

Switzer served as the voice of the developers for the Building Futures conversation, and spoke of the pressure put on the developers by the City to keep their projects affordable, while the City hikes up development charges and doubles park levies. And, let’s be honest, it’s the homebuyers that get stuck with those charges, not the developers.  So what can the industry do to make the City and prospective buyers happy? Milczyn mentioned that residents are the ones benefiting from the higher development charges, but Switzer was quick to point that fewer and fewer people can afford to become residents.

Keesmaat and the councillors seem very confident that a streamlined DPS will help affordability. The entire development process will be more efficient, and Milczyn believes that it will cost less to get a development permit than to get a rezoning.

Accountability

For us, this was definitely the high point of the discussion. Vaughan pointed a finger at certain councillors who are sending projects to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) just to keep up appearances. Without a doubt, there are councillors in the city that will fight a development because their constituents are against it, but then secretly (sometimes not-so-secretly) hope for approval, so that the ward benefits from Section 37 (an agreement that allows for councillors to negotiate cash and other benefits from developers who want to build a higher density project).

Frankly, as Vaughan put it, it’s a huge waste of time. How is Toronto supposed to grow in a healthy manner if there are people constantly getting in the way just to feed their own ego? “It’s time to take responsibility as citizens, not as players in the city,” Vaughan eloquently stated.

Looking forward

The live and interactive conversation made it clear that Toronto’s officials and residents need to share a common vision of the city’s future, we need a more concise growth strategy, and the development application process has to be reinvented.

BILD has started the conversation, the City is continuing it, and as a resident of Toronto, you should get involved. Keesmaat and her staff need as much info as possible to make the DPS effective, so let your voice be heard!