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G20 traffic and perimeter plans unveiled
Joanna Lavoie – Inside Toronto
Torontonians can expect significant traffic jam ups and a heavy police presence in the city’s downtown core in the days prior to, during, and after the upcoming G20 Summit.
Friday morning, May 28 Toronto Police Service (TPS) – a member of the conference’s Integrated Security Unit (ISU) – unveiled traffic and perimeter plans for the June 26/27 conference.
The ISU, which is also comprised of members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Peel Regional Police, and the Canadian Armed Forces, aims to ensure the safety and security of everyone involved with and impacted by the G20 and G8 summits in Toronto and Huntsville.
The security challenges are especially unique as both summits are being held the same week.
Starting June 7, the ISU will begin erecting an eight- to 10-foot chain link fence that will surround the designated “yellow zone,” bounded by Bay and York streets to the east, Wellington Street West to the north, Windsor Street, Blue Jays Way and Rees Street to the west and Lake Shore and Bremner boulevards to the south. Photo identification will be mandatory for anyone entering this zone from late Friday, June 25 until Sunday, June 27.
A highly secure RCMP zone will also surround the immediate area near the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
An estimated 40,000 people currently work and/or live in this affected area.
Toronto Police will also set up a “traffic zone” bounded by King Street West to the north, Yonge Street to the east, Lake Ontario to the south, and Spadina Avenue to the west. This secondary zone aims to maintain traffic flow in the area and direct vehicles from the designated security zones.
Some of the other security measures during the G20 may include some TTC route diversions and/or delays on an as-needed basis. Union Station will be open that weekend. Exits to front Street will, however, be prohibited. Vehicular traffic on Front Street near the station will also be restricted.
The underground PATH system will be closed from the evening of June 25 until Monday, June 28.
No parking and no standing bylaws will also be strictly enforced, particularly for the area bounded by Queen Street West to Yonge Street, Lake Shore Boulevard West to Spadina Avenue.
GO Transit and VIA Rail trains will be operating on their regular weekend schedules. The Toronto Islands ferry service will also be running that weekend on its usual schedule.
For safety reasons, homeless people within the yellow zone will be relocated to what the city hopes will become more permanent homes.
Toronto Police may also make use of tear gas and sound cannons for crowd control, if needed. The TPS has also installed 77 additional closed-circuit television cameras for monitoring the G20 Summit.
Supt. Tom Russell, commander of the TPS’ G8-G20 Planning Team, said people shouldn’t necessarily avoid the downtown core during the summit but said it’s a “personal choice” they’ll have to make based on how they anticipate the summit may or may not affect their lives.
“It’s not about shutting the city down… Criminal acts, criminal behaviour (are) a concern to us,” he said, underlining police want to strike a balance between regular life in Toronto and the security needed to host the major international event.
Mayor David Miller, on the other hand, said Torontonians who don’t need to be in the vicinity of the summit should “enjoy another part of our city” that weekend.
Taking a few moments from the Federation for Canadian Municipalities Conference to address the media about the G20 security plans, Miller said the City of Toronto would roll out a comprehensive information campaign to help residents and business owners better understand the conference’s impact. Miller also indicated information is available in the latest edition of the city’s Our Toronto newsletter.
“This is a massive event. It’s probably the largest event of its kind in the world,” he said, noting Toronto has many amazing stories to share with the world.
“I think hosting the G20 is a unique opportunity.”
Pointing to a recent spate of anti-G20 vandalism at several Chinatown-area banks, Miller said protesters are welcome but not those who wreck our city.
“We don’t welcome people who do damage in the city. We do welcome people who do peaceful protests,” he said, adding the city actually preferred the G20 Summit take place on the grounds of Exhibition Place. “I hope it’s not a forerunner of what might happen.”
Queen’s Park has been identified as the official G20 protest area.
The summit is set to especially impact the lives of those living and working in Councillor Adam Vaughan’s Trinity-Spadina ward.
“People in my ward, in particular, I think are going to have a difficult time getting in and out of their condos. I want everyone to realize there’s a local economy, a local culture that doesn’t deserve to be trampled here,” the Ward 20 representative told members of the media following Toronto Police’s security plan press conference.
Vaughan was notably concerned about compensation from the federal government for local residents and merchants whose homes and businesses are damaged as a result of the summit.
“I’m at a loss of words to describe my frustrations,” he said, calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to explain the G8 and G20 $1-billion security price tag paid by taxpayers’ dollars.
“We’re trying to get an answer from the Prime Minister. We’re going to continually raise this issue.”
Miller said business owners, like hot dog vendors, facing loss of revenue as a result of the summit can make a claim with the federal government for compensation.
He also said if the government can find $1 billion for G8-G20 security, it should also be able to come up with funds for important infrastructure projects, like the stalled Finch Avenue light rail transit line.
Security plans for the G8-G20 summits are in an ongoing state of flux and are modified on a daily basis.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
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Developers balk at affordable-unit idea
A suggestion for affordable housing would be a tax on the development of condo and apartment projects, say developers.
Vanessa Lu – Toronto Star
Any plan that forces a set percentage of affordable housing units in new condo or apartment projects would be essentially a tax, developers say.
“It would be a false economy,” said Stephen Dupuis, who heads the Building Industry and Land Development Association, which represents property developers. “If a unit has to be provided at less than market cost, where does the money come? It’s got to come from the balance of the units.”
The Star’s Your City, My City blog is exploring ways to improve the city, and one reader has proposed mandating “inclusionary zoning,” whereby 5 per cent of units in any new condo or apartment building exceeding 100 units would be allocated toward rent-geared-to-income housing.
Michael Collins-Williams, director of policy for the Ontario Home Builders’ Association, said such a move would turn it into a private-sector obligation to provide affordable housing. “It essentially does end up being a tax on development,” he said. “It’s an odd policy in which you do create a few affordable units, but then you make the rest of the units less affordable.”
NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo (Parkdale-High Park) plans to reintroduce a private member’s bill in May on inclusionary zoning that died when Premier Dalton McGuinty prorogued the Legislature. Her bill would change the provincial Planning Act to permit municipalities to require developers to set aside a certain percentage of new housing units for affordable housing.
“We have to step in and come up with some novel ideas,” said DiNovo. “We have to look at the greater good.” She argued such a policy would not cost any tax dollars, and that developers would be able to sell larger units, aimed at families, that are typically harder to sell.
DiNovo added it would be no different than the funding developers currently give to communities, called Section 37 money, for common-good projects such as playgrounds or parks. The amounts contributed by developers are generally dependent on the negotiating skills of individual councillors.
Collins-Williams said developers fear this would be another tool for municipalities to gain benefits from developers, on top of Section 37 funds.
He argued that inclusionary zoning would raise the average cost of new homes. “It’s asking new home buyers, or renters, to bear the cost of the social subsidy,” he said. “It’s inequitable because it’s a narrow segment of society that bears the cost of the social initiative.”
Developers favour a mix of solutions to improve the supply of affordable housing, including rent supplements, whereby individuals would use government money to help pay rent in private buildings.
Another way to expand the supply of affordable units is to permit basement apartments or second suites in houses. Some municipalities ban second suites, including Peel Region, where the waiting list for affordable housing for families is about 20 years.
Builder Frank Giannone says he believes it’s good policy to mix varying incomes in a building, but “it’s wrong to foist it on people who are going to buy their first unit.” He said such a move would amount to another development charge.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
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Listings shortage pushing up prices
Tony Wong – Yourhome.ca
The lack of residential Canadian real estate listings is most acute in Toronto, contributing to upward pressure on pricing, according to ReMax Ontario Atlantic Canada.
There were 41% fewer homes listed for sale in the Greater Toronto Area in January compared with a year earlier, ReMax said in a report released Wednesday.
“The overall pressure on sales and price is significant across the board – and it’s not likely to subside until more inventory comes on stream,” ReMax said.
Nationally, 81% of markets surveyed showed a sharp decline in listings according to ReMax.
After Toronto, Saskatoon was in second place with 37% fewer listings, followed by Kitchener-Waterloo, down 33%.
Victoria and Ottawa tied for fourth place, down 30%, and Greater Vancouver, down 27%, rounded out the top five tightest markets.
A lack of listings means that buyers have fewer choices, creating a sellers’ market.
The lack of listings has spilled into new home sales, as buyers turn to new development to satisfy demand.
New home sales in the GTA more than doubled in January compared with the same month last year, according to figures released Wednesday by the Building, Industry and Land Development Association.
There were 2,162 mew houses and condominiums sold last month, representing a stunning 237% increase over January 2009 and a solid start to the new year.
However, the comparisons can be misleading because last January represented the “height of the global economic crisis” when home sales were at the absolute bottom, according to the association.
Compared with 2008, sales were up by only 11%.
“The market is reasonably healthy, but certainly not frothy,” said BILD president Stephen Dupuis.
Within the GTA, York Region had the largest year-over-year gains, with 568 sales representing a 385% increase, followed by the city of Toronto’s 876 sales, up 289% and Peel Region’s 370 sales, up 259%.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416−388−1960
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