Re: ERO number 019-9210,…

Re: ERO number 019-9210, Proposed amendment to Ontario Regulation 299/19 ADDITIONAL RESIDENTIAL UNITS, made under the Planning Act

More Neighbours Toronto is a volunteer-only organization of housing advocates that believe in building more multi-family homes of all kinds for those who dream of building their lives in Toronto. We advocate for reforms to increase the ability to build more homes in every neighbourhood. We are a big-tent organization with members across the political spectrum who are nevertheless committed to counterbalancing the anti-housing agenda that dominates Toronto's politics, and has created increased costs and environmental burden for a new generation of aspiring residents.

More Neighbours Toronto is supportive of the proposed amendment to Ontario Regulation 299/19. The proposed changes regarding ARUs--overriding angular plane requirements, setting a minimum maximum lot coverage, overriding FSI requirements for parcels with ARUs, removing minimum lot sizes, and limiting building separation distance—make it easier and more cost-effective to build more ARUs in our communities. We welcome and applaud these changes.

We encourage the province to consider ways municipalities may attempt to circumvent this amendment and to respond accordingly. For instance, we recommend that the province include provisions that prevent municipalities from limiting ARUs to one storey only.

Closing
Ontario faces a massive shortage of housing and an ambitious target of building 1.5 million new homes by 2031. While not a solution to Ontario’s housing crisis on their own, ARUs can and should be part of the equation. We hope to see the province expand on these policy changes to make it legal and feasible to build even more types of homes throughout the province.
We appreciate the opportunity to comment and look forward to the implementation of measures to increase gentle density in existing neighbourhoods. More Neighbours is available should you or your staff wish to discuss these suggestions further.

Sincerely,
Hana Suckstorff
More Neighbours Toronto