Byron Gravel Pit development: Affordable housing target deemed too high and building heights too low

The Byron Gravel Pit Secondary Plan (Source: City of London)

The Planning and Environment Committee (PEC) has proposed last minute changes to a development plan that was more than eight years in the making.

Launched in 2016, the Byron Gravel Pit Secondary Plan lays out how the 76 hectare property will be redeveloped into residential high rises near the perimeter and a large public green space and pond at its centre.

“I want to make sure we utilize this fully,” Steve Stapleton of Auburn Developments told councillors on PEC. “There is great opportunity for greater intensification there. My recommendation is to add a modest increase to the [maximum building height] numbers proposed by staff.”

An amendment by Coun. Corrine Rahman to boost building maximums from 18 storeys to 22 storeys was supported by the committee.

There was also support to reduce the percentage of affordable units that the city would encourage developers to include in the residential areas.

Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis warned against the staff recommended target that 25 per cent of new units constructed in the residential areas be affordable housing.

Lewis cited previous examples when affordable housing requirements became a barrier to new housing developments breaking ground.

(Source: City of London)“We should absolutely try to get affordable considerations where it’s appropriate, but within the scope of what's actually going to get things built,” Lewis told colleagues.

Lewis emphasized that if affordable units derail plans to build a high-rise residential development, everyone impacted by the housing crisis loses out.

A couple years ago the province eliminated “bonus zoning” that had allowed council to negotiate with developers a requirement that a certain number of affordable units would be included in a development.

The planning committee voted to reduce the affordable housing target in the secondary plan from 25 per cent to a range between 10 and 15 per cent.

After the meeting, Coun. Steve Lehman said the best council can do is encourage developers to make a commitment to affordability.

"Let’s bring it down to a level [that] when we had bonus zoning, around the 10 per cent or 15 per cent level, instead of the 25 per cent because at the end of the day we want things built."

Council will make a final decision about adopting the Byron Gravel Pit Secondary Plan as an amendment to The London Plan on April 23.