What good are new noise bylaws if Toronto doesn’t enforce the rules it already has?

Stone Slinger on Front street.

The city of Toronto has no shortage of rules and regulations. According to a bylaw registry on the city’s website with information that dates all the way back to 1844, Toronto has 164,323 bylaws on the books, with more always coming: Toronto city council tacked on 1,334 more bylaws last year.

What there is a real shortage of, though, is an effective strategy to enforce many of those bylaws.

Don’t Be Shocked By (Even More) Condos in (Even More) Toronto Neighbourhoods

Toronto City skyline at night

Density is the name of the game when it comes to the Greater Toronto Area’s (GTA) urban planning agenda – especially in areas surrounding current and upcoming public transit hubs. With new provincially-passed legislation as a driving force behind it, these neighbourhoods are in store for a drastic transformation in the not-too-distant future.

“Not another condo,” exclaim countless Toronto residents daily, as they throw up their arms and shake their heads in disbelief at news of yet another towering new development.

1080-1088 Yonge Street development

1080-1088 Proposed condo development

We are writing to express our opposition to the 1080-1088 Yonge Street – Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment Application and request a deferral on the item. We have been in negotiations with the Developer and acknowledge the good steps that have been taken in reducing the massing on the west side of the site, but are of the opinion that more work needs to be done.

Eye-popping 11-storey tower proposed for site of historic Toronto homes

171 Lowther proposal submitted to City of Toronto

A row of homes dating back almost 125 years could be transformed by an impressive 11-storey tower, if a new development application is approved by the city. Not surprisingly, local residents have questions about the growing intensity in a quiet section of one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods where a number of proposals to increase density are piling up.

Torontonians who care about the environment must support six storey apartment buildings in existing neighbourhoods

6-storey building on Queen St.

From now until December 15th, the City of Toronto is conducting public consultation on Environmental Defence’s proposed change to how housing can be built in existing neighborhoods. This change would allow apartments up to six storeys and 30 units on the major streets that fall within the “Neighborhoods” designation of the City’s Official Plan.

City of shadows

Shadows created by tall buildings on Bloor Street's "Mink Mile"

The new buildings were just what Toronto needed. More than 800 new rental apartments, about a third of them permanently affordable. These new homes would rise on the site of an old provincial building. The problem: They were too tall. One tower would rise 50 storeys into the air, and so it would cast shadow on a park half a block away – covering about a quarter of its surface – for up to three hours a day.

A Plea for Respect and Reason – Reject the proposal at 100 Davenport

100 Davenport rendering showing building proposal

We cordially invite you to attend the Ontario Land Tribunal hearing scheduled for Tuesday, October 31, to hear expert testimony on the profound impact of sunlight deprivation on seniors’ mental health and overall well-being, as we defend the vulnerable residents of Belmont House who have been fighting an overzealous development at 100 Davenport for over 20 years.