Although I support building…

Although I support building low, mid and high-rise homes faster, I do not believe it is appropriate to push all new housing developments into a "one size fits all" process. The impact of a high-rise condo or apartment building is very different from a low-rise single family home, the review and documentation shouldn't be the same for both types of developments. For example, construction several high rise MURBs in an already dense setting with no regards to wind effect can create wind tunnels that will affect pedestrians and neighboring buildings, and it would be irresponsible of the provincial or municipal government to not study the wind effects. However, a low rise home doesn't impact the local wind currents, and a wind study is not needed.

The provincial government also needs to consider the long term impacts of developments. Retrofitting a high-rise MURB to be net zero carbon is very expensive, time consuming and has a major impact on residents. Alternatively, including net zero carbon features during initial design and construction minimizes all three factors. Municipalities should be able to introduce and continue using green development standards to minimize long term operating costs and ensure ongoing affordability of the MURBs that are currently being constructed.

I applaud the Ontario government in finding ways to increase the pace of new housing construction, but we also need to ensure that those new developments won't negatively impact our society in the long run.