Paving over parking: Toronto City Hall green-lights Green P redevelopment
Toronto City Council has paved the way to converting surface parking lots into housing sites, in a bid to unlock more municipal land for affordable homes.
In a vote of 21-1 Thursday, councillors rubber-stamped a review of more than a hundred Green P lots identified by staff as suitable sites for residential and mixed-use projects.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
“The people of Toronto need us to leave no stone unturned when it comes to building desperately-needed affordable housing,” Mayor Olivia Chow said during the debate.
City staff had previously determined that of the 130 parking lots that could be transformed, 74 are located within a 10-minute walk from higher-order transit. They have not publicly identified the locations of those sites.
“The shift away from parking accommodation to housing and community service accommodation at these parking lots could provide a significant pipeline of City-owned lands to meet the City's housing and other goals,” wrote the deputy city manager for corporate services, David Jollimore, in a report.
“I would suggest that, you know, a surface parking lot is not always the highest and best land use,” Coun. Brad Bradford, vice-chair of the city’s planning and housing committee, said after the vote Thursday.
“We're facing a housing crisis, and one of the best things that the City of Toronto can do, in addition to expediting our approval process and reforming our zoning, is take a look at City assets and under-performing city assets.”
However, Coun. Parthi Kandavel, who represents Scarborough Southwest, warned of the impact to suburban commuters if lots near transit hubs are removed.
“In my neighborhood, it's a 20-minute walk to a bus stop, a 10-minute wait for the bus, another 20 minutes to get to Victoria Park and Warden Stations,” he said. “To add 50 minutes by removing a parking space, or parking lot, is ridiculous when you talk about livability.”
“We’re essentially saying we don’t want to do parking any more at these spots,” said Etobicoke Centre Coun. Stephen Holyday, who was the lone vote against the plan. “I see this is as another sign of the war on the car.”
“It irritates me to no end that we're talking about, you know, it's ‘cars versus housing, or people,’” Coun. Chris Moise said. “That's not the case.”
“We are in a housing crisis. We need to look outside the box to make sure that we house people.”
City staff will now undertake a review of all the off-street, municipally-owned parking facilities that could serve as future housing sites and identify priorities and timelines by the end of the year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Guilty: Trump becomes first former U.S. president convicted of felony crimes
Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Can Trump come to Canada now that he's a convicted felon?
A Canadian immigration lawyer says now that Donald Trump is a convicted felon, he is technically barred from crossing the border into Canada.
Montreal tech billionaire charged with several sex offences
Robert Miller was charged Thursday with several sexual assault charges after Montreal police reopened an investigation into the tech billionaire.
'Why didn't they stop?' Mom asks of driver in hit-and-run crash that killed son
The mother of a 13-year-old boy who was killed in a hit-and-run in Edmonton is begging the driver to come forward.
The northern lights are returning to night skies across Canada this Friday
If you missed the brilliant displays of the aurora borealis over North America on May 10, you may have another chance to see them on Friday night.
DEVELOPING 2 Minneapolis officers, 4 civilians injured in active-shooter situation, law enforcement says
Two Minneapolis police officers and four civilians were injured Thursday in what officials are calling an active-shooter situation, law enforcement said.
A pair enjoyed pricey meals and bolted when it was time to pay. Their dine and dash ended in jail
A Welsh couple who dined out on pricey meals and bolted when the bill came is now paying the price, behind bars.
'All we need is a plug-in and a sink': B.C. helicopter charity delivers health care to remote Canada
Imagine your dentist arriving to help you via chopper. That is the aim of Helicopters Without Borders, a registered charity in B.C. specializing in bringing health care to remote communities, the sort of places you can only access quickly by air or water.
Shell investigating a 'potential cybersecurity incident'
Oil and gas giant Shell says it is investigating a possible cybersecurity 'incident.'