By Jessica Mvutu with input from Adonis Huggins.
Jessica is youth journalist with FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE

The Regent Park revitalization team is in the process of consulting with the community on the Regent Park phases 4 & 5 revitalization. The revitalization team is made up of a development team made up of Toronto community Housing (TCHC), and Tridel, and a consultation team comprised of Bousfield Inc, Monumental Consulting, Karakusevic Carson Architects (KCA), ERA Architects, PFS Studio, BA Group, Transsolar KlimaEngineering, and RWDI Consulting.

On October 26, an on-line engagement presentation was hosted by the revitalization team for Regent Park community members.  The presentation is one of many engagement activities that have been held to date.

The October 26 presentation provides an understanding of the rezoning application process, what is involved and the timelines. In past meetings, the rezoning process has been the subject of much concern, due to fears that a rezoning application would be submitted to the city, before community input could fully be considered.  

According to Emma West, one of the presenters from Bousfield In, a rezoning application will have to be submitted to the city at some point in the near future, the approval of which takes 12 – 24 months. Following the submission of this application, a site plan application is required by the city which is expected to take an additional 12 months. Finally, a building application is required which will take a further 6 months to complete.  Emma argues that with each submission, changes will need to be made based on the feedback that they received by the city as well as by the community, and that the rezoning application process will include several reports and studies, including: architectural plans, landscape plans, urban planning report, stormwater report, transportation impact study, public strategy report, and community services & facilities study.

Emma West, assured community members of Tridel and TCHC commitment to the consultation process, and that community input will be sought as part of the studies and at each stage of the rezoning process.

Following the presentation related to rezoning, the presenters explored various design elements for community members to think about.  Presenters posed questions about buildings, homes, community spaces, accessibility, streets and sidewalks, green and open spaces, transportation, retail, community safety and how sustainable design and best practices will be incorporated.

According to Jocelyn Deeks, a representative of Bousfield, the role of the consultation and engagement process will be to bring together all the concerned parties to examine in the broadest way what the various pros and cons regarding all the different elements involved in the development of phase 4 & 5.