City council considers ending minimum parking space requirement on new builds
Toronto City Council is considering removing a requirement that requires developers to build a minimum number of parking spaces in new condos.
Those in favour say the requirement can lead to an overbuilding of parking and that eliminating the minimum will help propel the city into the future by reducing the costly construction of underground parking.
Moreover, they argue the move will allow for more affordable housing to be built faster, and by making it more difficult to park, people will be encouraged to take transit, ride share or bike, and reduce traffic congestion and emissions.
The city hasn’t verified the data but says the Building Industry and Land Development Association showed about one third of parking spots didn’t sell.
“There’s already a trend in the industry, that amount of parking necessitated by the bylaw that is out of touch and is actually asking for more parking than what the market is asking for,” said Paul De Berardis with the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON).
At the same time, a parking space can be an expensive piece of real estate in Toronto. The city said a space in a typical development in Toronto is believed to cost between $48,000 and $160,000 to construct.
“The further down you go to build underground parking the more expensive it gets so this is expensive, it’s also bad for the environment, adds embodied carbon,” said Matti Siemiatycki, director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto.
“As they save money, they will pass it on to the buyer, some will try to put it in their pockets as profit, this is how a market with a lot of units will find its equilibrium.”
But some aren’t convinced the savings will be passed on to buyers.
“I’m concerned developers will say I don’t have to buy that and be selling units at exactly the same cost,” said City Councillor Paula Fletcher in a planning meeting on Nov. 25.
The Federation of South Toronto Residents’ Association (FoSTRA) works with dozens of residents’ groups south of Bloor Street. It believes about 30 per cent of vacant spaces are in the core and then points to Liberty Village where parking is very tight.
“There needs to be a lot more evidence-based research done by people who aren’t vested in the outcome to make sure its a planned approach by the community instead of a one size fits all solution,” Chair Rick Green told CTV News Toronto.
FoSTRA adds without looking closely at the minimums requirements, more vehicles could be pushed to park on city streets.
City council will consider the change December 15.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Police will not be charged in death of Indigenous man in B.C., mother says
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021, according to the man's mother.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.