Toronto Council meets today! It’s a weirdo mini meeting with a limited agenda — just Community Council items and Planning & Housing Committee, plus new business. Should be pretty quick and uneventful but let’s watch it together anyway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ALzAxiKH4w
Councillor Mark Grimes has brought donuts. He says they are the best donuts. He challenges any councillor to find better donuts. He is confident about the quality of these donuts.
Councillor Colle and Matlow’s motion to request Tory ask for an emergency meeting with Metrolinx over the Eglinton Crosstown delay carries on a voice vote.
Councillor Bradford’s motion calling for a report on a vacant storefront tax is added to the agenda, 17-5. Matlow holds it for debate.
New report confirms participation from province and feds (via CMHC) in new intergovernmental working group on housing & homelessness. Council will debate the item later. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2020.PH13.6
Council starts debating zoning changes for the Housing Now affordable rental site at 50 Wilson Boulevard. Councillor Pasternak (through Colle) has brought an amendment about preserving “as many current commuter parking stalls as possible.”
Approx 1,500 housing units in the plan for this Housing Now site at 50 Wilson Heights Boulevard, a third of ‘em affordable rental. Site is currently the TTC parking lot at Wilson Station.
Pasternak’s parking amendments re: this Housing Now site FAIL 5-17. Zoning changes carry unanimously on a voice vote.
There are nine items left on the agenda. Onto an item about a few amendments to Toronto’s Official Plan for Transportation. Councillor Mark Grimes making sure the Chief Planner is aware he’d like a Park Lawn GO station.
When this item came before the Planning & Housing Committee, Perks successfully moved to delete this section about self-driving cars and “technologies which enable shared mobility” from the Official Plan. Sounds like Councillor Holyday might want to add it back.
Maybe notable? Kinda? When the provincial government was asked to comment on the City’s proposed changes to the Official Plan for Transportation, they recommended planners make a change to classify the UP Express as a “GO Rail Line.” https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2020/ph/bgrd/backgroundfile-146136.pdf (PDF)
Holyday says he won’t support these plan amendments because they support things like the King Street Pilot and the Bloor Street Bike lanes. “How can you complain about congestion if you support some of the things in here?”
People love maps so here is a map of transit corridors in this revised Official Plan for Transportation.
Official plan amendments for Transportation are ADOPTED by Council, 22-1. A lonely stand for Councillor Stephen Holyday.
Councillor Anthony Perruzza wants a re-vote on Pasternak’s motion for the Wilson Station Housing Now site. It’s confusing! A second vote also comes up 5-17, but now Councillor Thompson says he needs a re-vote. So we’ll do this again.
Revitalization Plan for Firgrove-Grassways TCHC site carries unanimously on a voice vote.
Onto an item about the supportive housing plan. On a question from Councillor Grimes, staff confirm healthcare providers in the 905 and other areas are referring people in need of shelter to Toronto, sometime spaying for cab fare to T.O.
Councillor Grimes has a motion urging the provincial government to do more to deal with homelessness as a regional issue. He’d like to see more shelters other GTA municipalities, saying they are “shirking their responsibilities.”
This supportive housing plan will create 600 units starting this year. But to meet goal of 1,800 units a year over next ten years, city needs support from provincial and federal govs.
Councillor Grimes’ amendment re: need for the GTA to step up on homelessness CARRIES 22-0. Supporting housing plan carries unanimously on a voice vote.
And now: a parking debate. Councillor Cynthia Lai wants to change the rules so residents in her Scarborough ward can petition to allow on-street permit parking in their neighbourhoods. Sensible change.
Councillor Shelley Carroll moves to refer this parking item back to staff, so it can be included in an upcoming report reviewing all of Toronto’s parking policies, tentatively set for Q1 2021.
It’s a permit parking party. Councillor Gary Crawford moves the same motion to allow residents in his ward to petition for on-street permit parking.
Councillor Paula Fletcher moves to get a report with some permit parking stats, including number of permits, revenues, and fines collected in areas without permit parking.
Council votes to skip their lunch break and finish the agenda. Three items left after this parking item.
Councillor Lai’s motion to allow petitioning/polling for on-street permit parking in her ward CARRIES 20-0.
Crawford’s motion to allow petitioning/polling for permit parking in his ward carries 19-0.
Fletcher’s motion for a report packed with permit parking stats in Q2 2020 CARRIES 17-4.
Next up: Councillor Brad Bradford’s motion for a report on a vacant storefront tax. On a question from Matlow, legal staff say they don’t believe this kind of tax would be permitted under the City of Toronto Act. An amendment to COTA would likely be required.
“How does one define vacant?” asks Councillor Stephen Holyday. He’s worried landlords might go to lengths to make a vacant storefront appear occupied. (Like that one scene in Home Alone with the cardboard cutouts?)
Councillor Josh Matlow moves to replace this request for a vacant storefront tax with a more general request for a report on policy options to support storefront biz. Would come before next year’s budget.
I wrote about this issue of struggling storefront businesses and why government should help for the Toronto Star this week: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/02/24/torontos-storefront-businesses-are-getting-a-raw-deal-from-the-citys-construction-boom-heres-how-to-fix-it.html
Councillor Colle concerned about the optics of a vacant storefront tax when so many businesses along Eg have been closed due to construction. Councillor Carroll points out this is merely a report request, and surely staff will take factors like construction into consideration.
Matlow’s motion to swap out the vacant storefront report request for a more general report on ways to support biz FAILS 5-16.
Last item is about putting together an intergovernmental working group for housing & homelessness. Councillor Wong-Tam asks staff if maybe there should be some elected people on this working group. Staff say they’ll consider adding politicians later if they need their support.
Wong-Tam moves for a six month plan for homelessness to support the intergovernmental working group.
Toronto’s non-family shelters were ~98% full last night per the city’s counts. Respite sites were all at capacity or close to it.
Mayor John Tory says he’ll support Wong-Tam’s motion, but won’t support Perks’ emergency motion. He calls it “a highly politicized way in which to try to put this issue into the news as opposed to doing anything about it.”
Responding to concerns about homeless encampments, Tory has brought an article from 2006 showing encampments were an issue back then too. This is one of Tory’s weirdest political instincts: acknowledging problems, but wanting people to know those problems pre-date him.
Wong-Tam’s motion to establish a six month action plan for homelessness CARRIES on a voice vote.
And that concludes Council’s weird February mini meeting. Next regular Council meeting is April 1. No fooling.