REGENT PARK – The Rezoning Debate 2023

The zoning application includes 637 new affordable housing units 633 RGI (rent-geared-to-income) replacement units, completing TCHC’s commitment to replace all 2,083 RGI units at Regent Park 1,976 additional market units 10,461 m2 of commercial and non-residential space 3,714 m2 of community space A new civic square anchored by 2,200 m2 Toronto Public Library
 
Despite City approval, concerns about the rezoning application continue to persist. To address these concerns and spark dialogue, RPTV reached out to Stephanie Beattie and Walied Khogali Ali, two community leaders critical of the rezoning application and has brought their concerns forward to Peter Zimmerman, a senior staff member of Toronto Community Housing.

Stephanie Beattie is a past member of the Regent Park Neighbourhood Association. In an interview with RPTV journalist, Gabriel Meissner, she revisits how rezoning shaped phases 1, 2, & 3, and reveals that social housing units in phases 1, 2, & 3, have an “expiry date”. According to Beattie, TCHC is not bound to keep these units for more than 25 years, at which point they can sell them. Stephanie is also concerned about the increased density of the area resulting in more high rises in phases 4 & 5, than was originally contemplated.

Peter Zimmerman, the senior director in the development division at Toronto Community Housing (TCH), insists that it is a misunderstanding to think that TCHC will eventually sell its social housing units. While city documents may mention that Rent-Geared to Income (RGI) units have a 25-year expiration date, Peter argues that this is nothing but ‘boilerplate’ language, stating emphatically that TCH is committed to long-term affordable housing and that TCH will maintain all 2,083 social housing units in Regent Park as social housing in perpetuity.

Stephanie Beattie also argues that initially Regent Park was meant to be a 50/50 mixed community consisting of an equal number of social housing, to market-priced housing. Under the current rezoning plan, Stephanie says that the ratio will be 30% social housing to 70% market-priced housing.

Zimmerman counters this claim by arguing that the 50/50 mix is fallacious. He claims it has always been TCH’s intention to have more market-priced units than non-market-priced units. However, Zimmerman argues, that TCH does have an interest in reaching the 50/50 mix, and states that on a square footage level, they are close, because the RGI units are physically much larger than the market-priced units. In a follow-up brief, TCHC states that Forty (40) percent of the unit mix will be social housing.

Overall, Stephanie argues that much of the revitalization and rezoning process can be characterized as a lack of transparency and information sharing as most of the decision-making is done behind closed doors.

While admitting that the rezoning application is a complex process, Peter insists that the Regent Park community has been and continues to be instrumental in shaping the vision of a revitalized Regent Park. Most recently, Toronto Community Housing, Tridel and our planning consultants, Bousfields facilitated four rounds of community engagement (August 2021 to March 2022) to inform the master plan, including our recently approved Rezoning Application, for Phases 4-5. During this period, we engaged an estimated 2,175 participants in 24 public consultation events.

Stephanie is not the only one with concerns about the rezoning application. Walied Khogali Ali is Co-Chair of the Regent Park SDP Stakeholder Table and Resident Co-Chair of the Community Benefits Oversight Working Group. In an interview with Gabriel, Walied argues that there is insufficient allotment for community spaces as articulated by the 28 different resident and not-for-profit groups that indicated a need for space in a community building spacing report submitted to TCHC, and insists that a desire for a central community owned and governed space has gone unheard.

Walied also argues that there is a lack of much-needed outdoor vendor spaces for the nurturing and development of resident entrepreneurs that would enable them to bring their goods and services to market.

In a follow-up statement addressing Walied’s concerns, TCHC states that the Regent Park revitalization project to date has realized the development of a significant amount of community spaces and services, including the Regent Park Athletic Grounds, Pam McConnell Aquatic Centre, Daniels Spectrum (a community cultural hub) and over 200,000 square feet of retail space. Additional community spaces are planned for Phases 4-5. The recently approved Phases 4-5 rezoning application has unlocked an additional 100,000 sq ft of retail space, including micro retail opportunities to be realized in these final phases of the revitalization.

By Dimitrije Martinovic, Community Journalist with Focus Media Arts Centre.