Strange happenings in the mayor’s office and a sizzling transit debate meant this summer at City Hall wasn’t exactly quiet.
And it looks like fall won’t be snoozy either. A number of controversial matters are hitting council’s agenda, some of them referred from earlier debates. And since this is the final year before the next municipal election, look for lots of posturing and the careful weighing of words as our city reps ponder their electoral fate.
Here’s five hot matters that are going to make council interesting.
1) Island Airport Expansion
Public consultations on the hot-button issue of longer runways for jets in the heart of the city are just beginning, and council will soon have to make a ruling. Expect another major showdown over whether Toronto needs a busy downtown airport – especially with the $800 million direct link from Union Station to Pearson due in 2015 for the Pan Am Games. This fraught debate will continue to pit downtown councillors against their suburban colleagues. While many reps outside the core are unconcerned about neighbourhood disruption, they may end up blocking the expansion by establishing conditions that can’t be met. The name of the game could well be preventing the issue from blowing up again during the election.
2) Jacking Up Development Charges
Toronto has traditionally had much lower development fees than our suburban municipalities, to encourage density and because a lot of basic infrastructure has already been paid for, unlike in the burbs. Watch the politics unfold when council debates a proposed new bylaw increasing charges by as much as 90 per cent on new residential construction and 30 per cent on non-residential. (The current bylaw expires at the end of April 2014.)
Builders have always argued that charges get passed on to homebuyers, driving up the cost of new real estate. But tens of millions of dollars a year from higher fees could have been invested in infrastructure.
Left councillors have often supported low fees to promote intensification and to insure that the 250,000 people who work in the construction industry continue to have jobs.
The mayor and his allies hope to fund public transit with development charges, but bankrolling subway or LRT expansion predominately through those fees may be difficult that plan assumes continued large-scale construction of new units, and that’s not a realistic scenario. Watch the construction lobby to try to make the issue politically untenable.
The new bylaw will be considered at the September 24 executive meeting and then go to council in October. The final outcome could well be higher fees, but not nearly as high as those proposed – and certainly remaining below 905 rates.
3) Incineration By Stealth
It all sounds sort of innocuous, the Long Term Waste Management Strategy’s terms of reference that comes to council for debate on September 11. But don’t miss it.
Several significant changes were brought forward by members of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee that may look banal but in reality set the stage for possible reductions in diversion targets and the reintroduction of a discussion of incineration.
Simple requests to have staff do “a comprehensive review of any new and emerging source separation techniques” were amended in several ways to add language for the study of “energy from waste”: code for incineration.
Having purchased Green Lane landfill near London, Ontario, in 2006, the city secured a cheap long-term waste option. But the capacity of the site, which costs $70 to $80 per ton to access, will last only into the early 2020s at the current diversion rate.
But if recycling levels were increased and our diversion rate hit 70 per cent, that landfill would last into the mid-2030s. And if we got really active and approached 90 per cent, Green Lane would be perpetual: the amount of garbage breaking down or settling would equal or exceed the amount added.
Incineration is both more expensive, averaging two to three times the cost of the Green Lane, and removes the incentive for further recycling.
Ford and some less progressive councillors have done a good job of hijacking the process and providing opportunities to restart the dormant debate on incineration. It will be intriguing to see the lobbyist registrar’s list on this one.
4) Green Bins In Towers
The Green Bin Implementation In Multi-Residential Buildings and Waste Reduction/Diversion Education Initiatives report will hit the floor at council soon. Pay attention to the debate, because it will be a clue as to whether the pricey extension of organics recycling to apartment and condo buildings (it costs twice as much to recycle organics as it does to landfill them) will survive the budget axe.
The report notes that by 2014, 4,000 of Toronto’s 4,500 multi-residence buildings could be in the program, a step that would help raise the diversion rate and keep landfill available for the future. It would also help raise the multi-family diversion rate from its current dismal 24 per cent closer to the 66 per cent rate of single-family houses. Considering that in 2013 there were only 2,000 buildings in the program, this could be good news.
If the matter becomes controversial at council, it’s an indication that making the green bin more accessible will be considered too expensive when budget talks gets under way.
5) Bloor Bike Lane: The Sequel
West-end councillors will have another chance to push for an environmental assessment on a dedicated lane on Bloor West at the September 11 meeting of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee. A report request was made to the committee in June.
This, along with several other bike lane proposals coming forward, may signify the rebirth of a serious discussion around cycling.
The Bloor lane is important because the west end has no direct east-west bike connections, but the proposal isn’t an easy one. There will be lots of complaints about increased traffic and the removal of large sections of the parking that businesses believe is vital. Even if the Toronto Parking Authority is called in to help by creating new off-street parking facilities, the discussion will be lively and the outcome far from certain.
news@nowtoronto.com | @adam_giambrone
