[URBAN NOTE] "City of Toronto challenges Queen's Park over affordable housing"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Jennifer Pagliaro reports about an Ontario affordable housing proposal that, infuriatingly, is off just enough to be a problem.

The city has put the province on notice that proposed legislation to build affordable housing will leave communities without desperately needed amenities such as community centres, park improvements and child care spaces.

While Toronto city council has long pushed for provincial rules that would force developers to create affordable units, a proposal from the province to do just that would exempt developers from paying for other community benefits.

Councillors and city staff say the province is asking them to make an impossible choice — build badly needed affordable housing or secure every day amenities that make communities livable and are increasingly necessary as the population balloons.

The city submitted its official response this week to the province’s proposed legislation, first announced in May, for what’s known as “inclusionary zoning.” The city’s housing advocate Councillor Ana Bailao said they’ve written to “strongly oppose” the province’s plans.

“By creating affordable housing, you’re not getting rid of those pressures,” Bailao said. “Those pressures are still there and having affordable housing competing for what we think are just as important city-building initiatives, I don’t think it benefits anybody.”