I agree with the Toronto…

I agree with the Toronto council’s recommendation to extend the deadline to September 30 to gain more input from the key stakeholders, namely residents. I agree that more details of what the legislation means should be provided by the Provincial government.

The name More Home More choice doesn’t seem to indicate any attempt to provide more affordable housing. It seems to seek to make the processes shorter and less robust, in favour of developers. It is trying to oversimplify the approval processes. “Livability “ for the residents that will occupy these new buildings is what is at stake. “Livability” for the existing residents that live near the developments is also at risk.

The new Community Benefit Charge will not take into account the height of the building proposed but will be based on the current land value, with a cap. This guarantees that developers will pay less charges. The city will receive less funding to make the infrastructure and area around the building liveable. Reducing green spaces around these new developments will also affect the flooding issues we are experiencing throughout the city. In the end, taxpayers will foot more of the bill for development projects.

Bringing back the OMB, changing the name to LPAT, doesn’t seem right. We are just starting to see how the new process without the OMB is working. It’s too soon to draw conclusions that it’s not working. Wasting taxpayers money implementing something new when all the money we invested in the current process hasn’t been tested.

More affordable homes and rents are needed in this city badly. More developments that crowd our living spaces without proper planning are not a good idea.