New regulations for condominium developments along King Street West were among the topics up for discussion today, as city council’s final meeting before summer break continued.
The regulations proposed by Coun. Adam Vaughan would require that 10 per cent of all units in new condominium developments on King Street West consist of three or more bedrooms and “knockout panels” be placed between one bedroom units, so more family sized units can be created in the future.
Vaughan hopes to apply the same regulations to other future condominium developments throughout the city.
“I ran on a platform of getting more family units built and finding a way to make them more affordable and that is what this is about,” Vaughan told CP24. “We are having an explosion of new condo units and about 98 per cent of them before I took office were one-bedroom units. They are great places to start a family, but not a place to raise a family.”
During the debate over Vaughan’s motion, Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday was reported to have said that downtown Toronto is no place to raise a family, but in an interview with CP24 he said that he was only expressing his own personal choice.
“All I said was that I personally wouldn’t wish to raise my family in a 47-storey tower at John and King streets, but that isn’t the crux of the argument,” he said. “The argument is that I don’t know that it is our right to be forcing these things on the developer. If there is a market for these units I am sure the developers will put them in themselves. We can’t force them to put in units they may not sell.”
Vaughan’s motion is expected to be voted on before the meeting wraps up sometime around 8 p.m.
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