Stage set in London for taller buildings, more stacked townhouses

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London politicians laid the groundwork Tuesday for taller buildings across the city and four-storey stacked townhouses in residential neighbourhoods as they endorsed proposed changes to the city’s master planning document.

Following a two-hour public meeting, members of city council’s planning and environment signed off on proposed changes that could change the city’s skyline and fabric of its residential neighbourhoods in an effort to get more housing built.

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“The zoning changes before you today represent the most significant increase in as-of-right high density zoning since the last zoning bylaw was approved 35 years ago,” said Scott Mathers, city hall’s planning deputy city manager.

Despite complaints from several speakers who said many Londoners are in the dark about the proposed changes, the committee endorsed the following changes:

• increasing the maximum height of apartment buildings downtown to 45 storeys. The current limit is 35 storeys
• increasing the maximum height of apartments in transit villages to 35 storeys. The current limit is 22 storeys, and city staff had recommended a limit of 30 storeys
• allowing four-storey stacked townhouses on so-called neighbourhood “connector streets” throughout the city. Examples of connector streets include Wortley Road, Talbot Street, Base Line Road and Cheapside Street. City staff had recommended allowing them in the area bounded by Wonderland Road, Bradley Avenue, Highbury Avenue and Fanshawe Park Road, but Mayor Josh Morgan suggested allowing them across the city in a motion that was approved. 

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City council will vote on the proposed changes at a meeting Sept. 24. They will then be sent to the the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for approval.

The committee also approved designating 100 Kellogg as a transit village. Existing transit villages are at Oxford Street and Wonderland Road, White Oaks Mall, Oxford Street and Highbury Avenue, and Fanshawe Park Road and Richmond Street.

A staff recommendation to give the same designation to the intersection of Oxford and Richmond streets was rejected by the committee. Morgan’s motion also proposed removing the northern bus rapid transit corridor – scrapped by council in 2019 – from the city’s official plan, a move that would give it lower maximum building heights.

Some speakers at the public meeting said they weren’t aware of the proposed changes and how significant some could be across the city.

“I live on a connector (street), I never received any notification of the significant changes being proposed in the amendment,” said Therron Jones, a director of the Orchard Park Sherwood Forest neighbourhood group. “People don’t know this is happening, and they certainly don’t understand the vast change that you’re proposing.”

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Coun. Sam Trosow said he believes the city had a “disconnect” communicating the proposed changes to the public.

“With all due respect, I’m going to call it planner-ese … but there is a certain shorthand that when these notices come out, people don’t understand them.”

Stacked townhouses also proved to be a hot-button issue, as developers and politicians described them as one of the cheapest and most affordable builds and referred to them as a more likely starter home.

Morgan likened the change to allowing up to four units on any single-family home lot, saying that many feared the change would be much more transformative in short order than it turned out.

“These developments are going to happen where they make sense across the city, they will not be on every one of these neighbourhood connector streets,” he said.

Politicians had questions about what a stacked townhouse is and where they are already allowed, and there was an unsuccessful bid to limit them to primary transit routes.

The endorsed changes are part of the city’s review of its master planning document, The London Plan. Councillors again pointed out the document, originally approved in 2017, was drafted largely before London’s explosive growth.

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Updated proposed changes to official plan, zoning bylaws

Downtown: 45-storey limit, up from current 35 storeys

Transit villages: 35 storeys, up from current 22 and 30 storeys recommended by staff

Rapid transit corridors: 25 storeys everywhere, from 16 within 150 metres of transit stations and recommended 15 and current 12 elsewhere on corridors

Urban corridors: 15 storeys, up from 10

Shopping areas:

Major (new): 15 storeys

Community: Eight storeys, up from six

Main Streets: Eight storeys, up from six

Neighbourhoods:

Major streets: Eight storeys, up from six

Connectors: Four storeys, up from three

jmoulton@postmedia.com

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