The city’s executive committee has voted unanimously in favour of leasing a parcel of land to Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment for the construction of a new Raptors practice facility at Exhibition Place.

The 68,000 square foot facility, which replaces a much smaller one inside the Air Canada Centre, will be built at a cost of $30 million with all funding coming from MLSE.

As part of the deal, the city will receive an annual payment of $205,000 over the next 20 years and Exhibition Place will assume the $1-million cost of converting a nearby baseball diamond into surface parking.

About one third of the facility will be reserved for public use while the other two thirds will belong to the Raptors.

The lease, which can be renewed for another 10 years upon its expiry, still has to be approved by city council at its meeting next week.

“This is a good day for everybody and I think the players in particular are going to be very pleased. They deserve a world class facility,” MLSE president and CEO Tim Leiweke said, noting that the planned facility played a role in resigning star point guard Kyle Lowry in July. “There are a lot of new practice facilities that have been built recently, but I don’t think there is another facility in the NBA that will be situated in such a beautiful location as this.”

Rob Ford has butted heads with MLSE in the past, voting against providing the company with a $10 million loan for the $120 million expansion of BMO Field, however on Wednesday the mayor voiced his support for the new practice facility, calling it a "good deal for everyone" and suggesting that it could be integral in bringing an NBA championship to the city within the next "one or two years."

Ford did, however, express some concern with the expected $162 hourly cost to the public for renting courts at the facility.

“I am going to move a motion at council that will help the kids in Toronto Community Housing (access the facility),” Ford said. “We have to give these kids the opportunity to come down to a practice facility where professionals play.”

Though the planning and approvals process could take until November, Leiweke said he expects construction on the facility to begin shortly after that with an anticipated completion date sometime before the 2016 NBA All Star Game.

“It is critical that those 1,200 members of the media come to Toronto and we blow them away with how beautiful and great our city is and a large part of the activities all week will be at the Raptors training centre," he said.

New powers for parking enforcement officers

Today's executive committee meeting was the final one during this term of council and a total of 55 items were on the agenda.

One of the more hotly anticipated items was a proposal to give parking enforcement officers the power to mail tickets to drivers who park illegally on city streets.

Under the Provincial Offences Act, parking enforcement officers must affix parking infraction notices to the windshield of the offending vehicle or hand it to the driver personally, but a motion from Ward 19 Coun. Mike Layton called on council to request that the legislation be amended to allow tickets to be mailed to drivers who leave the scene before one is issued to them.

The committee voted to send the recommendation to the city manager.

“Every day, as Toronto residents drive their cars, ride their bikes, or take the TTC to work or school, they are needlessly held up in traffic by individuals or delivery vehicles parked illegally in the curb lane or bicycle lane,” Layton writes in a letter accompanying the motion. “Often, parking enforcement officers are not able to issue tickets for such offences before the offender drives away unpunished.”

The City of Toronto has cracked down on vehicles that park illegally during rush hour over the last year, more than doubling the fine to $150 and increasing enforcement.

The issue has also reared its head in the mayoral campaign with candidate John Tory promising to have delivery trucks that idle outside businesses towed away.

In his motion, Layton said parking enforcement officers must be given the right to mail tickets so the city can effectively "keep traffic moving and fight gridlock."

Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly, who chairs the executive committee, was asked about allowing parking tickets to be mailed out on Wednesday morning and said he is open to the idea.

“It is not a bad idea; it has been done in other places,” Kelly said.

Remember for instant breaking news follow @cp24 on Twitter.