Sky’s the limit? City politicians consider much taller buildings across London

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Politicians got their first look on Tuesday at new proposed building height limits for downtown and other highly populated parts of London that would jack up highrises in some areas by nearly 50 per cent.

Members of council’s planning committee received a report by SvN Architects and Planners, a consulting firm hired by the city, that suggested raising the roof on building heights, in some cases significantly, in the rules of the London Plan, the city’s master planning document. The suggested changes include:

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• Downtown: 45-storey limit, up from 35 storeys
• Transit villages: 30 storeys, up from 22
• Rapid transit corridors:
  • 25 storeys, up from 16 within 150 metres of transit stations
  • 15 storeys, up from 12 elsewhere on corridors
• Urban corridors: 15 storeys, up from 10
• Shopping areas:
  • Major (new): 15 storeys
  • Community: Eight storeys, up from six

“I think that this is landing things in about the right spot,” said deputy mayor Shawn Lewis. “These new proposed heights make a lot of sense, and they’re pretty consistent with decisions that have been made in recent months.”

City staff said the new limits were recommended from the consulting group based on trends in the development industry, standards in other Ontario cities such as Kitchener and Hamilton, and information provided from developers.

The report will next go to full city council for information, then public engagement will begin. City staff expects to hold a public participation meeting on the proposed height-limit changes at the Sept. 10 planning committee meeting.

But the lack of public participation so far irked at least one politician.

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“This has generated quite a few calls to my office, and quite a few expressions of concern from my constituents already,” said Ward 6 Coun. Sam Trosow, who also doesn’t sit on the planning committee but attended Tuesday’s meeting

Ward 9 Coun. Anna Hopkins also attended the meeting and weighed in, saying city hall needs “guidelines” on building heights so everyone knows what to expect in different parts of London.

“There have been a number of past applications . . . where we do these one-offs and change the heights,” she said.

Critics including some on city council say the London Plan, first introduced in 2016, is out of date, largely due to the city’s population growth outpacing the plan’s expectations and the subsequent housing pressures the city faces.

City hall’s sign-on to $74 million from the federal housing accelerator fund in September 2023 also requires changes, specifically to heights near transit.

jmoulton@postmedia.com

@jackmoulton65

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