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AlvinofDiaspar
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From the Star:
MAYOR'S MANDATE
City housing for 1,500 planned
And `not in my back yard' won't wash for sites spread over 10 wards: Councillor
Apr 14, 2007 02:30 AM
Donovan Vincent
City Hall Bureau
Ten proposed projects that would house 1,500 people for $160 million – the largest affordable-housing package Toronto has seen in years – will go to a city hall committee for approval Tuesday.
And the politician backing the proposal, Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, says he won't tolerate any "NIMBY" arguments from residents in neighbourhoods where the projects are likely to end up.
"I won't accept `not in my back yard.' I will not accept it," vowed the chair of the affordable housing committee yesterday. "In fact, I don't want to talk to anybody if they're going to bring (that) approach ...
"I'm going to move forward with our agenda, and I'll only listen to, and the committee will only listen to, valid planning arguments."
If approved, the 10 projects – which would cater to groups such as seniors with mental health disabilities, single mothers fleeing domestic abuse, young adults with psychiatric illness, and low-income families – would comprise a massive social initiative.
Late last year, the city put out a call for proposals from community groups that would yield a total of 600 affordable-housing units. Added to those submissions are two Toronto Community Housing Corp. developments that would provide 200 more units.
Money to build the units would flow primarily from the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program, a federal-provincial agreement signed in April 2005.
Toronto would contribute its share by way of property tax exemptions, waived development fees, leases on two city properties, and 110 rent supplements.
If Mammoliti's committee backs the package, it would next need full council approval. No package this large has come up for a vote in close to five years.
But Mayor David Miller has pledged that Toronto will create 1,000 units of affordable housing each year. The city has a backlog of tens of thousands of households waiting to get into subsidized units.
"It goes without saying we're quite pleased this package is coming forward, and that there was a significant interest in developing affordable housing in the city," said Sean Gadon, director of partnerships in the city's affordable housing office.
The plan is to have the projects fully under construction by 2009 (some will have earlier starting dates) because March 31 of that year is the deadline for getting signed agreements that will be eligible for the federal/provincial cash.
The 10 projects are spread across the inner city for the most part, in 10 different wards: Wards 11, 14, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 28, 29 and 43.
Only one project, in Ward 43 in Scarborough, is significantly distant from downtown.
"It simply turned out, as a result of the (city staff) evaluation, that we have 10 developments ... in different wards," Gadon said.
At this early stage, at least one of the projects has already stirred controversy.
A 20-unit proposal for 1120 Ossington Ave. was the subject of "heated and vicious" debate a few months ago, according to one person who was at a neighbourhood meeting where it was discussed.
The St. Clair West Affordable Housing Group's proposal calls for redeveloping a 50-year-old church that's currently used only for that group's meetings. The $4 million project would provide homes with average rents of about $700 for a one-bedroom, and the tenants would include domestic abuse victims.
But the west-end meeting held in December turned nasty, with some residents voicing concerns about "the kind of people" that would live there, said Peter Clutterbuck, volunteer chair of St. Clair West housing group.
His group formed an advisory committee to encourage dialogue with residents, and Clutterbuck said he remains "confident the community is going to welcome the project."
Jon Harston, general manager for St. Clare's Multifaith Housing Society, which plans a $14 million, 82-bed project for Madison Ave., south of Davenport, says his group hasn't done any community consultation yet, but plans to start soon. The project would cater in part to domestic violence victims.
"Once rumours start to fly, it's hard to get out information about what we're really doing," Harston says.
Mammoliti says neighbourhoods need not fear the projects because the city is taking "a new approach'' to affordable housing.
None are on the scale of "monster-sized" social housing sites built 40 or 50 years ago, he said.
New developments will be smaller in size and mix better into their surroundings, he said, offering as an example a 47-unit development – not one of the 10 newly proposed – that's slated for his own ward (Ward 7) in the city's northwest. It will cater to families of African descent who live in that part of the city and are on social assistance.
"Everyone has had an opportunity to look at the drawings and what's going to be there. It just fits in, doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. It won't look like a box, like traditional social housing,'' he said.
"I want to say to all who are skeptical, you absolutely have nothing to worry about," Mammoliti said of the proposals coming forward Tuesday.
AoD
MAYOR'S MANDATE
City housing for 1,500 planned
And `not in my back yard' won't wash for sites spread over 10 wards: Councillor
Apr 14, 2007 02:30 AM
Donovan Vincent
City Hall Bureau
Ten proposed projects that would house 1,500 people for $160 million – the largest affordable-housing package Toronto has seen in years – will go to a city hall committee for approval Tuesday.
And the politician backing the proposal, Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, says he won't tolerate any "NIMBY" arguments from residents in neighbourhoods where the projects are likely to end up.
"I won't accept `not in my back yard.' I will not accept it," vowed the chair of the affordable housing committee yesterday. "In fact, I don't want to talk to anybody if they're going to bring (that) approach ...
"I'm going to move forward with our agenda, and I'll only listen to, and the committee will only listen to, valid planning arguments."
If approved, the 10 projects – which would cater to groups such as seniors with mental health disabilities, single mothers fleeing domestic abuse, young adults with psychiatric illness, and low-income families – would comprise a massive social initiative.
Late last year, the city put out a call for proposals from community groups that would yield a total of 600 affordable-housing units. Added to those submissions are two Toronto Community Housing Corp. developments that would provide 200 more units.
Money to build the units would flow primarily from the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program, a federal-provincial agreement signed in April 2005.
Toronto would contribute its share by way of property tax exemptions, waived development fees, leases on two city properties, and 110 rent supplements.
If Mammoliti's committee backs the package, it would next need full council approval. No package this large has come up for a vote in close to five years.
But Mayor David Miller has pledged that Toronto will create 1,000 units of affordable housing each year. The city has a backlog of tens of thousands of households waiting to get into subsidized units.
"It goes without saying we're quite pleased this package is coming forward, and that there was a significant interest in developing affordable housing in the city," said Sean Gadon, director of partnerships in the city's affordable housing office.
The plan is to have the projects fully under construction by 2009 (some will have earlier starting dates) because March 31 of that year is the deadline for getting signed agreements that will be eligible for the federal/provincial cash.
The 10 projects are spread across the inner city for the most part, in 10 different wards: Wards 11, 14, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 28, 29 and 43.
Only one project, in Ward 43 in Scarborough, is significantly distant from downtown.
"It simply turned out, as a result of the (city staff) evaluation, that we have 10 developments ... in different wards," Gadon said.
At this early stage, at least one of the projects has already stirred controversy.
A 20-unit proposal for 1120 Ossington Ave. was the subject of "heated and vicious" debate a few months ago, according to one person who was at a neighbourhood meeting where it was discussed.
The St. Clair West Affordable Housing Group's proposal calls for redeveloping a 50-year-old church that's currently used only for that group's meetings. The $4 million project would provide homes with average rents of about $700 for a one-bedroom, and the tenants would include domestic abuse victims.
But the west-end meeting held in December turned nasty, with some residents voicing concerns about "the kind of people" that would live there, said Peter Clutterbuck, volunteer chair of St. Clair West housing group.
His group formed an advisory committee to encourage dialogue with residents, and Clutterbuck said he remains "confident the community is going to welcome the project."
Jon Harston, general manager for St. Clare's Multifaith Housing Society, which plans a $14 million, 82-bed project for Madison Ave., south of Davenport, says his group hasn't done any community consultation yet, but plans to start soon. The project would cater in part to domestic violence victims.
"Once rumours start to fly, it's hard to get out information about what we're really doing," Harston says.
Mammoliti says neighbourhoods need not fear the projects because the city is taking "a new approach'' to affordable housing.
None are on the scale of "monster-sized" social housing sites built 40 or 50 years ago, he said.
New developments will be smaller in size and mix better into their surroundings, he said, offering as an example a 47-unit development – not one of the 10 newly proposed – that's slated for his own ward (Ward 7) in the city's northwest. It will cater to families of African descent who live in that part of the city and are on social assistance.
"Everyone has had an opportunity to look at the drawings and what's going to be there. It just fits in, doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. It won't look like a box, like traditional social housing,'' he said.
"I want to say to all who are skeptical, you absolutely have nothing to worry about," Mammoliti said of the proposals coming forward Tuesday.
AoD
