A rookie Toronto councillor wants condominium developers to build more three-bedroom units to attract families to the downtown core.

Adam Vaughan worries the spate of new condo buildings could begin turning into slums if developers don’t build the larger living quarters, which he feels would also draw young married couples, singles and retirees.

While there are no official statistics, Vaughan said research he did during his campaign for office last November showed some 8,000 housing units were built in his ward (Trinity-Spadina) from 1998 to last year. Of those, only 86 were three-bedroom units, he said.

“It means there’s a shrinking number of children living in the downtown core,” Vaughan told members of the city’s planning and growth management committee last week, according to the Toronto Star.

“I don’t think that’s an intent of this council or a strategy of this council. But it’s been a result of some of the planning practices of this council. And it’s causing great concern for downtown neighbourhoods who are now watching their schools get listed for closure.”

Vaughan said a lack of three-bedroom units often means people with growing families must move to the suburbs and commute to a downtown job.

Others, the councillor said, will try to buy homes in the core, which fuels the cost of downtown housing and boosts property taxes.

“We need viable, mixed, sustainable neighbourhoods with schools in the downtown,” Vaughan told the Star.

He said the city often gives developers huge building density bonuses as part of their negotiations.

Vaughan said some developers are beginning to understand that larger units will sell in Toronto.

“I had one proposal in my ward for a building with 55 units, all of them one-bedroom. But I spoke with the developer and now he’s planning 39 units, seven of them with three bedrooms.”

Chief Toronto planner Ted Tyndorf said the city doesn’t have the authority to demand certain types of condos be built.

“The province may not want to get into that level of regulation,” he told the Star.

“But one of the principles we’ve held dear is the creation of complete communities. You can’t have a complete community if you don’t have families; you can’t have a complete community if you don’t have seniors. You can have a collection of people who are 30-somethings living in apartment buildings, but is that a complete community?”

Source: toronto.ctv.ca

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