American Block Redevelopment | 3 fl | U/C

[plam]

Enforcing zoning bylaws is easy.  And accessibility has a legislative framework as well.

Forcing developers to provide inexpensive housing units (however this is defined) is rarely required as part of the standard zoning, in any city in North America, though.  And if the builder doesn't ask for a variance (for example, penthouses don't require a variance), there are no levers.  Provide property tax rebates?  Hmmm, that really means the taxpayers will subsidize such buildings.

Also, the minimum cost of a unit is largely fixed, and large savings are hard to find (as recently discussed in another thread).  So if the builder is building $250K condos or $1500/month rental units, it's pretty had to find a way to offer $125K condo units or $750/month rental units in the same building, even if you shrink them a bit more and don't provide parking or balconies.

I agree with the sentiment but there really are no easy solutions.

Pretty sure I've heard of it being mandated in a number of places, although not in Ontario. For instance, Chicago (under attack): http://www.citylab.com/housing/2015/09/c...es/403042/; Cambridge MA: http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/housing/f...developers