Planning in London - Introduction

I’m going to attempt to write a bit of a primer and to keep personal views and biases to a minimum in this series of blogs outlining Urban Planning. Entire Masters theses have been written on tiny aspects of Urban Planning and that’s not appropriate or easy for a Blog format. Urban Planning includes the analysis of statistical data, private property rights and law as well as concepts of urban design and architecture.

To make this all a bit more readable and so that I can publish this within a reasonable time-frame while also attending to other important matters, I’ve decided this will be a 4-part series (at least, that number may grow based on thought, writing and responses.)

1. The basics of Planning in Ontario
2. Communication Breakdown – London
3. The Wortley proposal in context
4. Planning philosophy and reform

Urban Planning in Ontario is regulated by a number of Provincial Acts, Court decisions and local regulation. Furthermore, municipalities are limited in their ability to control local decision making by the Ontario Municipal Board. Property development is at the core of our rights and liberties and is a crucial element of a capitalist system. Private property rights can be tempered but we must also ensure that laws are applied equally and consistently with a somewhat scientific approach. Planning decisions and policies must be based in rational thought rather than emotion.

Taste is certainly no small part of the issue either. Architecture, as with any creative endeavour is subject to differences of opinion and taste. Certain building designs, styles, materials and colours may please some while highly offending others. The Use of a property may make immense sense to some while seeming to be entirely irrational to others.

Development is also a major employer in any advanced, growing economy. Development is both an indicator and a function of economic growth. Development can have massive impacts on a local economy – too little supply of new housing has an impact on values and rents. Development is also impacted by land values (and development can impact land values) and the economic health is both affected by and effects the local economy. I’m not trying to be difficult here; The chicken-egg question of development remains whether tall buildings increase land values or whether increased land values cause tall buildings.

We are a capitalist economy. We generally believe in rewards for those who take risk and a profit margin for those who engage in business. Our pension plans are invested in development. The greatest single purchase most people make is their home. We have an interest in creating an ownership society where people see the value of their investments increase rather than paying rent forever. All of these factors affect how we see development in our communities. Economics is also a study in contradictions and counter-intuitive thought. Rent controls can limit investment in the creation of new rental units and the improvement of existing units. Similarly, overly restrictive growth and zoning policies can limit the supply of new housing.

All this is to say that governments constantly struggle with how to respect local sentiment while allowing for reasonable, responsible and measured growth.

I will try to address all of these issues as well as to explain the facts (as I know them) to examine possible problems with the existing system both in Ontario and in London specifically and to propose any solutions that might create a ‘better’ system for Urban Planning in Ontario and London. Keep in mind there is about 150 years of legal precedent and principles, countless OMB decisions and local issues of growth as well as the economic realities of property development that cannot be simply summarized for easy consumption.

I will do my best.

The Basics of Planning

This blog will describe the existing legal and regulatory framework. How are Zoning By-laws established? What is a Committee of Adjustment and how are Minor Variances determined? How many days does a municipality have to consider an application for development approval?


Communication breakdown

This will require some work to assess how London’s development process works. I am most familiar with Toronto’s system and I’m not sure that London invests the same amount and I know full well that the political culture at London City Hall is very different from Toronto’s.


The Wortley proposal in context

A discussion with a friend from Toronto who has a great degree of experience in dealing with planning issues revealed a funny point of agreement; “I’d fall on my knees and thank the heavens if a 4-storey proposal came forward.” While Toronto is about 9 times larger than London and I have no desire to transplant Toronto development to London, I do think a 4-storey development is never something to get entirely excited about, particularly in a City with such an unsustainable pattern of growth as London’s. Old South is an interesting study. One cannot simply cite the buildings they like as the character of a neighbourhood without acknowledging the ones they aren’t crazy about as being part of that same character. How does this proposal fit and not fit and what is the legal framework, as described above. I’ll try not to make judgments about the good or bad nature of the development though as you have just read, I’m fairly non-fussed about the proposal.


Improvements

Given all the above, what does London need to better process planning applications. Some of the ideas will involve costs and I won’t provide such information here as it will have little hard evidence to prove or disprove costs. Some may be impossible to achieve and some may require an entire overhaul of the political culture at City Hall. But I’ll do my best.

I welcome comments about all of my blogs but particularly about this one. I’ll try to address questions in future blogs on the topic and as always, I’ll publish the links on Facebook and Twitter. Feel free even to make suggestions as to how to improve the blog itself. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy, learn and discuss!