Planning predictability takes resources and political will

In April 2016, the ownerof Kristy'sRestaurant applied to rezone theproperty at 809 Richmond Rd. Being a stone's throw from the future ClearyLRT station, chances were excellent-to-absolute that he'd be successful.

Shortly after the application was submitted a year ago, the city started its planning study on how to develop the areas around theCleary and New Orchard stations, both on Richmond Road, west of Westboro.

Lastweek council approved theapplicationfor a 24-storey building at the Kristy's site, considerably higher than the previously allowed four. The new development plan for the Clearyand New Orchard stations? It'sexpectedsometime in 2018.

And therein lies the source ofmuch of theongoing frustration with planning in this town. The city or more accurately, the politicians promise certainty in planning, and launch years-long processes to develop avision for how neighbourhoods are to grow. In the meantime, individual properties get rezoned anyway, making a bit of a mockery of the whole exercise.

Not a new issue

It's not new for developers to try to get their properties rezoned before overarching planning documents are approved. Nor is it against any rules. And the city is obliged to deal with those applications in a timely manner.

Sometimes the city is left scramblingto finish these community plans while rezoningsfor individual properties are being pushed through.

A recent example of this phenomenon isthe 40-storey towers approved for Carling Avenue in Little Italy, while the community development plan for the area was delayed by years.

3-year planning lag

But have city politicians learned nothing from these past experiences?

Consider the Kristy's Restaurant application. The rationale for extra height at this location is that intensification near the light rail system is desirable. That makes sense.

So why did ittake three years to launchtheCleary-NewOrchard planning study? Why didn'tcouncil direct planning staff to launch it as soon as possible after the project's approval?

It also makes sense that the city's planning staff would engage with residents, businesses and landowners to come up with a blueprint about how that intensification around the future transit station is expected tounfold.

But council approved Phase 2 of the LRT in 2013. And while therehave been a few tweaks tothe route we're talking about a difference of a city block the extension plan has beenknown for four years.

So why did ittake three years to launchthe Cleary-New Orchard planning study? Why didn'tcouncil direct planning staff to launch it as soon as possible after the project's approval?

Further, when it's well known that some developers will try to get their properties rezoned before the community plans are approved, why does there appear to be such little effort to expedite the process? In the distant past, a downtown community design plan was completed in a single year of intense work. That is not the case now.

Resources,political will required

One roadblock may be resources. The city was without a formal planning boss for a chunk of 2016, during which there was a freeze on filling vacancies. Last year, only 61 per cent of rezoning requests were processed within the city's target timeline, while there was an 18-per-cent increase in applications.

Despite the clich, it usually is impossible to do more with less, something that's astrue for the city's planning staff as anyone.

But is there the political will to push ahead as quickly as possible with community development plans for transit stations?

Consider that there'scurrently no plan underway for what's to happen around WestboroStation on Scott Street, just east of Churchill Avenue.

There areall sorts of buildings-taller-than-originally-zonedpopping up around the station.

Just lastApril, council approved a 22-storey building on the old Trailhead store site, which waszoned less than 10 years ago for six storeys. Locatedkitty-corner from WestboroStation, most residents expected something taller than six storeys to be built there, but hoping for something less than 22.

More to the point, community members were looking to have a say in how the area was going to be developed. As Coun. Jeff Leiper told his colleagues, the city is "setting a new planning context for the entire area without an honest and transparent discussion with residents about how their neighbourhood is likely to change."

Most of council appeared unfazed by the observation. That includes Mayor Jim Watson, who told reporters:"If we're not going to have density right across the street from a transit station, where are we going to have it?"

Where's promised predictability?

And yet five years ago, at a much-ballyhooed planning summit, Watson told a crowd of developers, planners and community activists that "we need greater predictability and certainty when it comes to development in our city. There are just too many surprises that upset local neighbourhoods when zoning changes."

It's still true that weneed greater certainty in planning, even if that certainty results in plans thatupset residents which they almost certainly will. And it's still true that neighbours are upset over zoning changes 100 people commented on the Kristy'srezoning and, in the words of a city report, "few comments were submitted in support."

But it's unlikely residents are still surprised. They've become accustomed to rezoning applications overtaking community plans, before, during and after they're passed. At least this one aspect of planning has become predictable.