Urban Planning

[jammer139]

A CTV article on the office conversion mixed use thinking.






https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/mixed-us...ossible-future-for-urban-cores-1.6406235

[jammer139]

Strategy to address vacancies.



https://london.ctvnews.ca/farhi-offers-t...ffice-and-storefront-vacancies-1.6413867

[jammer139]

CBC article on downtown vacancy report



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/do...or-cheap-solutions-report-says-1.6854344

[CanadianTalk]

This is interesting... Looking forward to seeing what comes out of this.

The city is proposing a new City-Wide Comprehensive Zoning By-law called ReThink Zoning:

• specific rules for all properties that restrict the use, intensity and form of land, buildings, or structures.
• implements the policy direction of the City’s newest Official Plan, known as The London Plan
• replaces and repeals the existing comprehensive Zoning By-law, known as Zoning By-law No. Z.-1

Application notice: https://london.ca/sites/default/files/20...ice%20of%20Application%20-2023-06-05.pdf

ReThink Zoning Project Website: https://getinvolved.london.ca/rethink-zoning

[jammer139]

Good to see they are looking at zoning practices from other cities to learn the best practices for zoning for London. Hopefully they avoid the pitfalls of micro zoning and simplify things for the future. Reducing administrative overhead and needless zoning applications will help speed up projects. Recent Provincial Planning Policy changes to allow granny flats to increase housing units is an example of this. The current London zoning plan is a hodgepodge of zoning use and categories that is a Frankenstein monster and undecipherable by mere mortals.

Originally Posted by CanadianTalk

This is interesting... Looking forward to seeing what comes out of this.

The city is proposing a new City-Wide Comprehensive Zoning By-law called ReThink Zoning:

• specific rules for all properties that restrict the use, intensity and form of land, buildings, or structures.
• implements the policy direction of the City’s newest Official Plan, known as The London Plan
• replaces and repeals the existing comprehensive Zoning By-law, known as Zoning By-law No. Z.-1

Application notice: https://london.ca/sites/default/files/20...ice%20of%20Application%20-2023-06-05.pdf

ReThink Zoning Project Website: https://getinvolved.london.ca/rethink-zoning

[jammer139]

Proposals and process changes to how City planning dept operates being presented at PEC.


Highlights include hiring 11 more staff.


Process Improvement


It is proposed that a ‘deep-dive’ Lean Six Sigma analysis on current permit processing
methods be conducted to determine how plan reviews and building inspections could be
expedited. There would have to be an undertaking of mapping of the current processes
and development of analytics and metrics to identify current performance, as a first
step.
An increase in the submission of complete applications is the desired outcome as well
as the minimization of plan resubmissions as a result of deficiencies noted during plan
reviews.
To achieve this outcome, the following vision and goal would need to be worked
towards:


• Vision: One and Done. The review of multiple resubmissions adds on additional
process steps and has implications to the overall review time. Multiple
resubmissions ‘disrupt’ the flow of plan reviews. Ideally, the reviews of
applications would be conducted once, with the first application submission,
resulting in permit issuance.


• Goal: Two and Through. Implement improvements to the permit application
review process to reduce the total number of resubmissions and the overall
permit issuance timeframes. It is expected that enhancements to the online
permit application portal will help achieve this in terms of ensuring the correct
documentation has been submitted



https://pub-london.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=100052

[jammer139]

Official Plan and Zoning rule changes to allow 3 additional residential units.




https://london.ca/business-development/p...ning-applications/additional-residential


https://london.ca/sites/default/files/20...al%20Residential%20Units%20%28002%29.pdf

[jammer139]

Good proposal to eliminate the Urban Design Review Panel.



https://pub-london.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=103329

[jammer139]

The mess that is city zoning comes into focus.



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/lo...dditional-dwelling-on-property-1.6987550

[Spoofy]

Originally Posted by jammer139

The mess that is city zoning comes into focus.



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/lo...dditional-dwelling-on-property-1.6987550

Great example of the downsides of trying to put lipstick on a pig. The city has been trying to ram through changes over the last few years, which has really ramped up the last few months, but there is only so much you can do before you just need to rewrite the entire by-law, which of course they are also working on but that also takes time.

Accessory structure height and lot coverage are both major pain points, as well as the bedroom cap, legal parking for garage conversions, and the inability to add a new driveway for accessory units. And that's all before you even get into the mess that is rental unit licencing and those requirements under both the municipal level and especially the provincial level with the RTA.

[jammer139]

Interesting move by City of Montreal on how to deal with derelict buildings.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-derelict-building-owners-hefty-fines-1.6998836

[jammer139]

Not surprising at all that the city trots out the same old excuses about short staffing in issuing building permits.


https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/love...e-owners-irked-at-building-permit-delays


Given that the number of new zoning applications and site plan applications and building permit applications have dramatically declined in the last year you think they would have even more free time to process the applications that have been submitted.



Tricar is suing the City over their application for 96 Ridout St.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Interesting move by City of Montreal on how to deal with derelict buildings.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-derelict-building-owners-hefty-fines-1.6998836

Farhi ("an empty building is our most prized asset") would go bankrupt overnight if this were implemented here.

This is downtown London:

[jammer139]

Demolition permit for the old London Free Press building is issued.


https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/demolition-permit-issued-for-former-london-free-press-building


The Landlord needs more surface parking its seems. As the article says it would be great if a real developer would purchase this and the parking lot across from the convention centre and build some high density mixed use buildings.

[jammer139]

Calgary having success with program to convert unused offices to residential.


https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/calgary-trans...say-other-cities-should-follow-1.6714948

[ssiguy]

Leave it to Calgary to be innovative.

The reality is that in cities like London which have very high vacancy rates, most of those vacancies are in lower grade buildings without the technology infrastructure and physical dimensions that modern businesses demand. Older buildings are often much smaller with a narrower footprint making them much more suitable for residency transition.

As far as the LFP coming down.........the city cannot tell a business they must develop a certain parcel of land but they can tell them what they can and cannot do on that land. Due to this being Farhi, we all know that it will just sit there as an urban blight parking lot and this is where the city could force Farhi's hand. The city should zone the land for residential or commercial but NOT for parking and ditto for the huge York & Wellington lot beside it.

Banning it's use as a parking lot means it doesn't generate any revenue for the owner which makes it a money pit due to the property taxes the owners would still have to pay. In other words, the owners would actually have an incentive to either develop the land or sell it to someone who will.

[jammer139]

After the LFP building is demolished you know the Landlord will apply for a parking lot zoning and the City needs to do actually as you suggest and refuse it. It's time to start sending a message to the Landlord.

[Djeffery]

It will cost him less to leave it as an empty lot than to leave the building there. I doubt he even bothers trying to make a parking lot out of it, because who is going to park there? Hardly anyone parks next door, no one is going to park at the LFP site. I think after he brings the building down, we will be lucky to see it as a graded field.

[MolsonExport]

I don't begrudge someone for trying to make a buck, but the entire city has to live with his (bad) decisions, and he owns way too much of the city. Unscrupulous speculator, nothing more.

[jammer139]

Demolition of the LFP building has started on the east side. The CTV piece today said the asking price from the "Landlord" is $41M. That is the same asking price for the parking lot immediately to the west which has been on the market for nearly 2 years now. I don't recall what the Landlord paid for the LFP building a couple of years ago but it certainly wasn't $41M.


https://london.ctvnews.ca/demolition-of-former-london-free-press-building-1.6720987