05-16-2023, 09:40 AM
(05-16-2023, 09:31 AM)westwardloo Wrote: It appears developers are taking the cities new parks by-law to OLT. I have mixed feelings on this one. On one hand I do think the city needs to build up a fund to develop new parkland throughout the city. On the other hand it is quite clear that once again the Urban city centre residents are paying for facility expansion in the suburbs. If the funds were used strictly to purchase land in areas of the city with lacking parks space (City centre) I would be more on board for the increase in fees. Funding the suburbs with fees from densification and taxes from existing neighbourhoods is not sustainable. The Mattamy Homes of the world should be funding new schools, parks, community centres in these neighbourhoods. Clearly people still want to buy into the suburban life so tack on a 50-100k fee to each lot sold to fund the amenities required.
https://archive.ph/n5Bam
I find both ends disappointing: that the developers don't see contributing to the parkland and amenities as a relevant cost of high densification, while also seeing the inequity that is putting this money into the general parks and recreation funding that is going to build $90M+ rec centres to serve new communities (who have swaths of unsustainable utilities and linear infrastructure that is already going to drag the city in the future).
Would be nice to see those 10 developers instead put some kind of counter proposal together that would likely increase the attraction and value of their future developments downtown anyways, or contribute collectively to assembling some more blocks of parkland in abutting parcels they have.