City Public Consultations
The City of Toronto is reviewing the following bylaws and wants your feedback!
- Clothing Drop Boxes Bylaw Review
February 28, 2019, 6 to 8 p.m. at City Hall, Committee Room 3
The aim of the review is to discuss potential improvements to the Clothing Drop Boxes Bylaw to ensure that clothing drop boxes remain safe and maintained. More information: http://ow.ly/SqGe30nItzE
- Body Rub Parlours and Holistic Centres Bylaw Review
March 4 – March 19, 2019
The aim of the review is to update the licensing bylaw to promote public health and safety, as well as effective oversight and enforcement. There will be four public consultations and five stakeholder meetings. More information: http://ow.ly/zPdw30nGZC8
- Vehicle-For Hire Bylaw Review
March 4 – March 19, 2019
The aim of the review is to discuss potential updates to the bylaw for taxicabs, limousines and private transportation companies, such as Facedrive, Lyft and Uber. There will be nine public consultations, each focused on a specific area of the bylaw. Topics to be discussed include accessibility, vehicle equipment and public safety. More information: toronto.ca/vehicleforhirereview
There are a number of ways you can be involved and help shape policy. Visit the consultation websites for more details on how you can:
- Attend public consultations
- Submit written feedback
- Subscribe to email updates
Feedback from these consultations will be used to inform reviews of these bylaws. Reports on these reviews are expected to go to City Council in the second quarter of 2019.
By-law 107-2010 Section (f) Amendment – 3rd storey step-back on side streets
Official notice was received from the City Clerk that City Council on March 10, 2016 adopted the required amendments to the former City of North York Zoning By-law 7625 and the City of Toronto Zoning By-law 569-2013 for the lands fronting onto Avenue Road and within the Avenue Road study area, from Joicey Boulevard to Lawrence Avenue West substantially in accordance with the draft Zoning By-law Amendment presented as Attachment 8 to the report (February 16, 2016) from the Director, Community Planning, North York District. It is now official!
“Any building or structure 3 storeys or greater in height must have a minimum 2.0 metre step-back at the top of the second storey, from all main walls facing a lot line which abuts a street, measured from the exterior of the main wall.”
History
At the SAHRA Annual General Meeting in April, 2015, Councillor Carmichael Greb committed to submit a request to Motion for a revision to the existing By-law 107-2010 Section (f), applicable to Avenue Road, to provide clarity on the zoning bylaw requirement that any building or structure with 3 or more storeys must have a minimum 2.0 metre step-back at the top of the second storey, from all main walls facing a lot line which abuts a street, measured from the exterior face of the main wall.
The Motion was submitted and approved at the May 12, 2015 meeting of Council for reporting back by the Staff in Q4, 2015.
In June, 2015, a building permit application was received for a third storey addition for 2078 Avenue Road. Subsequently, the owner applied for an additional permit for a fourth and fifth storey residential addition. There was significant community concern over the staging of the building’s redevelopment, and particularly over the lack of a 2 metre step-back of the third floor from all lot lines facing a street.
It was the decision of City Legal and Planning reviews of the Avenue Road Study and the implemented Zoning By-laws that the wording of the section requiring the step-back required clarification to be properly interpreted as originally intended. The City decided that 2078 Avenue Road did NOT have to provide a step-back on the third floor on the side street and the Building Permit (previously revoked) for 2078 Avenue Road was re-issued.
The community was advised that until such time the by-law wording was amended that the City could not enforce the step-back requirements at the top of the second storey on side streets.
At the Nov 12, 2015 Community Hearing about the Avenue Road Avenue Study Recommendations Review, the Planning Department presented suggested amendments to By-law 107-2010 Section (f).
The South Armour Heights Residents’ Association obtained advice on those proposed amendments and then retained a lawyer to provide professional advice on wording to put forward to Planning and the Councillor for presentation at the Feb 23, 2016 meeting of the North York Community Council.
On February 16, 2016, the Planning Department issued a Staff Report recommending that by-law amendments be made as follows:
Staff Report backgroundfile-90590 Feb 17 2016
“Any building or structure 3 storeys or greater in height must have a minimum 2.0 metre step-back at the top of the second storey, from all main walls facing a lot line which abuts a street, measured from the exterior of the main wall.”
The reworded Zoning By-law clauses would clarify that a step-back is required at the top of the second storey for any building 3 storeys or greater and for all walls facing a public street if the building is on a corner lot. This would assist in avoiding any future confusion over the interpretation of those particular clauses.
The Staff Report was approved at the Feb 23, 2016 meeting of the North York Community Council. SAHRA provided a letter of support. We also spoke to the proposed amendment, confirming SAHRA’s support for this amendment but also stating that while the current bylaw may not fully embody the vision of the Avenue Road Study, it is the basis for reviewing and approving new developments. SAHRA believes this amendment is a step in the right direction and will improve the decision making process for City staff.
SAHRA will continue to work towards fulfilling the vision for Avenue Road, but we recognize that public policy is often the result of small incremental changes. We welcome the Section (f) change and will continue to seek further change in the future to order to build the best Avenue Road possible.
The by-law amendment went forward to the March 10, 2016 meeting of City Council for formal approval and zoning-law amendment implementation.
Unfortunately, 2078 Avenue Road has been given permission to NOT provide the step-back on the third storey on Joicey but hereonin we believe that we have a firm by-law that cannot be questioned.
Thanks to the community members who have been involved in the review of Section (f) and the necessary amendments to ensure that the step-back requirements on side streets are enforced!
Proposed By-Law to Regulate Residential Construction Dust (By-law 1088-2018)
Municipal Licensing and Standards proposed that the Council of the City of Toronto create a new Toronto Municipal Code Chapter to Regulate Residential Construction Dust. It was suggested that the Dust By-law should come into effect on Sept 4, 2018.
The new By-law would:
- Establish a Toronto Municipal Code Chapter for dust applicable to residential construction.
- Direct every person engaging in, permitting or directing construction activities on residential properties shall comply with the provisions of the Chapter.
- Define that the Dust By-law does not apply to necessary municipal work, work occurring on commercial and industrial properties and construction of a multi-residential building, subdivision or mixed-use development.
- Define that the Dust By-law does not apply to residential demolition projects that have approved demolition permits.
City Council adopted the item with the following amendments:
http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2018.LS27.2
- Toronto Building to include information about the dust bylaw on public notices posted on residential infill construction sites and to update all public materials relating to same to include the new bylaw.
- Licensing and Standards to report back on the implementation of the dust bylaw to the Planning and Growth Management Committee at the same time as the anticipated status report on the Strategy for Minimizing the Negative Impacts of Residential Infill Construction expected in early 2019.
- Licensing and Standards to work with City Planning, Toronto Building, Transportation Services and Toronto Public Health to review and identify any issues related to dust from large-scale construction projects including multi-residential buildings, subdivisions and mixed-use developments, and to report back to the appropriate standing committee in 2019.
FoNTRA (the Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations) provided comments on their review of Construction Dust Mitigation on May 29, 2018.
FoNTRA Feedback on Construction Dust -May 29 2018