4-storey stacked townhouses permitted on London 'neighbourhood connector' streets

Townhouses under construction in a low density neighbourhood. (CTV News File image)

A majority of council has ruled that London’s Official Plan should be changed to permit four-storey stacked townhouses on neighbourhood connector streets across the city.

On Tuesday, a motion by Coun. Corrine Rahman would have deferred the change until there is an opportunity for more public consultation.

"What I've heard is significant concern over the lack of consultation on suburban streets in my ward," Rahman explained. "The lack of [public] transit to support adding growth on these connectors, which are already densely populated streets."

Coun. Anna Hopkins added, "This is an opportunity for the community to understand even if they live on a neighbourhood connector!"

There are dozens of streets categorized as neighbourhood connectors in London.

In essence, they are higher order than typical residential streets, but are often lined by single-family homes.

Some examples include Wortley Road, Cheapside Street, Aldersbrook Road, Millbank Drive, and Wavell Street.

Two weeks ago, a motion by Mayor Josh Morgan and Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis was added to the agenda of the Planning and Environment Committee, recommending several ways to increase housing density in the city including being more permissive of stacked townhouses.

The mayor was unmoved by arguments that the decision to change the official plan needed more time for public consultation.

"It is very difficult to have months of public consultation when we're calling this a housing crisis," Morgan told council. "We actually have to move forward in a meaningful way on a level of density in residential neighborhoods. And I know not everybody in those neighborhoods is going to like that."

Supporters of the change describe the two-unit stacked townhouses as quicker to build and more affordable than other higher-density forms of housing.

Morgan added that the cost and size of residential properties needed to accommodate a stacked townhouse development will limit where they will be built within existing neighbourhoods,

Rahman’s request to pause the process was defeated.

Ultimately, all of the higher-density amendments included in the motion by the mayor and deputy mayor were supported by a majority of council.

The province will be sent a request to amend The London Plan, an approval that could take up to six months. Then council will confirm the provincial decision with a final vote.

The mayor told CTV News after the meeting, "At the end of the day, we found a way to carve out a resolution that recognized where we agreed, noted that we'd had some differing of opinions on some parts, and came together with a large majority to support a package going forward to the province for approval."