Bill 109 at Planning and Housing Committee

Yesterday at Planning and Housing Committee, staff brought forth a report with a set of recommendations in response to changes required to City's Official Plan and Municipal Code to conform to the provincial bill, Bill 109.

This omnibus bill forces changes to the City of Toronto Act, Development Charges Act and Planning Act. On new developments, the bill specifically affects pre-application consultation process, changes definition of a complete application, shifts approvals from City Councillors to a delegated staff authority, and reduces timelines to appeal Site Plan Control applications.

The City should have the right set of regulations for development applications and an efficient consultation process. This bill does not do that. It instead dramatically reduces local discussion on how the future of our city develops, and deregulates how planning applications are dealt with, while starving the City of funds needed to manage development applications and the impacts of development.

While Planning staff are obligated to bring forth recommendations to conform to this undemocratic provincial bill, I will work to ensure that we build back tools for local engagement.

My Comments at Planning and Housing on this matter

Sincerely,

Gord

• Notice: Community Meeting regarding 34 Southport Street
• Expansion of Harm Reduction Program 
• Youth Violence Prevention Grant Application
• Mayoral by-election set for June 26

34 Southport Street Development Community Meeting 

In 2012 City Council approved a mixed-use development consisting of a 29 and 26-storey apartment building and a 3-storey townhouse block which contain, in total, 558 residential units. In 2015 the owner applied to permit a larger grocery store and modify the built form, layout of the site, and location of parking spaces. The requested variances were approved, which among other matters, increased the tower heights to 30 and 27-storeys. After a lengthy delay and pandemic slowdown, the Site Plan and Construction Management Plans are now being worked on by the applicant with City Staff.

To ensure that the community remains a part of the process for this development I will be, in cooperation with City Planning staff and the applicant, holding a community meeting on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, from 6:00 - 7:30pm to allow you to learn more about the development, Site Plan, and Construction Management Plan. It will also be a great opportunity to ask questions and gather feedback. I will chair the meeting which includes presentations from City Planning and the applicant, followed by a Q&A period to allow discussion.

More information is available at http://app.toronto.ca/AIC/index.do?folderRsn=3xoTFemCimfZjdyPZpkWqA%3D%3D.

The link to join the meeting is here: https://toronto.webex.com/toronto/onstage/g.php?MTID=e6bf283a294331fe4f22a7ad39deffb9a.

Expansion of Frontline Healthcare Services to fight the opioid crisis 

Toronto Public Health (TPH), Unity Health Toronto and the University Health Network (UHN) announced new partnerships to expand frontline health care services in responding to the escalating drug poisoning crisis in Toronto. This will be the first time that acute care hospitals in Ontario and Public Health have worked together to offer supervised consumption services, adding a new way of providing essential harm reduction programming and care in Toronto. The new partnerships will see TPH’s long-standing harm reduction program, The Works, collaborate with St. Michael’s Hospital (part of Unity Health Toronto), and with Toronto Western Hospital (part of UHN). The specific community locations for the new sites will be determined over the next 12 to 24 months.

The delivery of frontline services to the community as part of The Works program represents one of many actions that TPH is taking to respond to the drug poisoning crisis, which are outlined in the Toronto Overdose Action Plan.

Applications for Youth Violence Prevention grant now open

The City of Toronto is accepting applications for the Youth Violence Prevention Grant to support the de-escalation of violence in priority Toronto communities. The Grant, which will be open for applications until Tuesday, April 11 at noon, will see $2.2 million in total funding allocated to approved local community agencies in priority community zones that have been identified across Toronto.

Approved applicants can receive up to $200,000 each for up to a three-year period, starting in 2023. An additional $400,000 will remain committed to the ENAGB Youth Program to continue supporting Indigenous youth via self-determined and culturally specific youth violence prevention programming in Toronto.

The six priority zones where community agencies may be eligible for funding include:

• Black Creek, Glenfield-Jane Heights, York University Heights, Oakdale-Beverley Heights, and Humbermede
• Elms-Old Rexdale, Mount Olive-Silverstone-Jamestown, and Kingsview Village-The Westway
• Beechborough-Greenbrook, Rustic, Rockcliffe-Smythe, Yorkdale-Glen Park, Weston, Brookhaven-Amesbury, and Weston-Pelham
• Kensington-Chinatown, Regent Park, Parkdale and Moss Park
• Golfdale-Cedarbrae-Woburn, Oakridge, Malvern East, Eglinton East, L’Amoreaux, Morningside, West Hill, and Dorset Park
• Flemington Park, Thorncliffe Park, and Victoria Village

To be eligible for the Youth Violence Prevention Grant:

• Projects must deliver violence prevention, intervention or interruption programming for youth between the ages of 10 to 29 who are most vulnerable to involvement in serious violence and crime.
• Applications must be from partnerships that include an established, community-based non-profit led organization, as well as a grassroots group or organization.

Full grant application criteria and details for this granting period are available on the Youth Violence Prevention Grant webpage.

Key Dates for the Mayoral by-election

• Nominations will open Monday, April 3 at 8:30 a.m.
• Nominations will close Friday, May 12 at 2 p.m.
• Advance voting will take place Thursday, June 8 to Tuesday, June 13
• By-election will be held Monday, June 26

More information is available on the City's webpage