Toronto council greenlights review that couldsee parking lots turned into housing

Toronto's city council greenlit a review looking into the feasibility of converting dozens of parking lots and other city-owned property into homes or community infrastructure projects.

On Thursday, council asked city staff to draft a listof suitable Parks, Forestry and Recreationfacilities, overall real estate assets and, in particular, all off-street, transit-oriented parking lotsthat could support housing and community goals.

In a recent report, city staff saidthat Toronto owns 300 parking lots, typically managed by the Toronto Parking Authority, many of which wouldn't be suitable for conversion. However, staff say their examination of those lots shows130 could potentially support housing, with 74 of those located a 10 minute walk from major transit service points.

As part of their vote, councildirected staff to make sure the list of allcity-owned parking lots being considered for developmentincludeannual revenues and losses, the long-term impact on city revenue andthe cost to replace it. Additionally, they stipulated that any current or future parking lots considered for development be required to include affordable housing.

Council also asked theToronto Parking Authority property at 596-598 GerrardSt. E.to be designatedas a top priority for redevelopment for affordable housing.

While the vote sailed throughwith a majority, the item sparked debate onthe value of surface parking lots for residents.

"We operate parking lots for a purpose," said Etobicoke Centrecoun. Stephen Holyday, adding parking lots support businesses and public transit.

"Are we now changing and deciding not to do that service any longer? Why would we do that? The lots don't look empty to me," said Holyday.

Mayor Olivia Chow said the long list of councillorsweighing in on the subjectis "encouraging." She said ultimately, utilizing city real estate for housing opportunities is needed to address the housing and affordability crisis and help the cityfulfilits promise ofbuilding 65,000 units.

"The people of Toronto need us to leave no stone unturned when it comes to building desperately needed, affordable housing," she said.

Housing advocate supports move

MarkRichardson, HousingNowTO.com's technical lead, said it's good the majority of council supported the move. While he contends that the change won't be immediate and will take place over a number of years if it does proceed, it signals a much-needed change inthe way the city uses its land.

"We have a housing crisis, we don't have a parking crisis," he said.

"We need to deliver new affordable housing at speed and at scale on land that the City of Toronto already owns because we can't afford to go out and spend tens of million of dollars acquiring new sites."

A full report on what sites would work best for conversion, timelines and resource requirementsis expected to come back to council by the end of the year.