Council votes to allow sixplexes in 9 Toronto wards, leaving suburbs to opt in
Coun. Gord Perks, who was pushing for a city-wide adoption, ultimately introduced a motion "very reluctantly" to allow sixplexes in eight Toronto-East York district wards and Ward 23 (Scarborough North), where a pilot is already in place, saying he wanted to increase housing density in some capacity rather than none.
"I've spent a considerable amount of time and effort working with my colleagues on council, trying to find majority support for doing what this council already committed to in 2023, which is city wide sixplexes," he said after hours of debate. "But I've been unable to find that."
Along with Ward 23, the following wards will now allow sixplexes:
Ward 4, Parkdale-High Park.
Ward 9, Davenport.
Ward 10, Spadina-Fort York.
Ward 11, University-Rosedale.
Ward 12, Toronto-St. Paul's.
Ward 13, Toronto Centre.
Ward 14, Toronto-Danforth.
Ward 19, Beaches-East York.
The motion allows councillors of the remaining 16 wards to make a request to the city's chief planner to opt in if interested in allowing sixplexes.
It also directed city staff to make sure necessary neighbourhood infrastructure is available to support added density where sixplexes are built, including street cleaning, public realm maintenance and improvements.
The vote follows a city staff report that recommended allowing low-rise sixplexes across Toronto as-of-right, so they could be built without special permission. That followed a decision to allow fourplexes across the city in 2023.
Lengthy debate leaves councillors divided
City staff noted that allowing sixplexes would be a "significant milestone" in meeting Toronto's commitments under the federal Housing Accelerator Fund to allow more low-rise, multi-unit housing development through as-of-right zoning bylaws in its neighbourhoods.
Coun. Perks warned councillors that the city could be denied funding if it voted against approving sixplexes.
But the issue remained divisive at council, with Coun. Stephen Holyday pushing back.
"That is the definition of selling out the residents for money," Holyday said.
"Why don't we just ask the people what they want?" he said. "They're not satisfied with ramming through sixplexes in communities that were never designed to house them."
Parthi Kandavel, councillor for Scarborough Southwest, told reporters that adding sixplexes to wards like his would put pressure on community infrastructure, parking and property costs.
"If you give more units the permissions, land value increases," he said. "This will have a tremendous impact for working and middle class families on the path to home ownership in the suburbs … and that's a primary part of our concerns."
In a statement following the vote, Mayor Olivia Chow said the city needs to do more to address the housing affordability crisis, and she hopes all wards will soon allow sixplexes.
"I am confident that, as more people see the benefits of missing middle housing, where average rent is $830 cheaper than condos and 65% of units are family-sized, more councillors will also opt in," she said.
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