“Units with in-law suites are really expensive and very desirable by investors, so we looked for a large yard,” Pinto said. When Toronto city council passed a bylaw in February that would allow garden suites, it seemed like the perfect solution. A garden suite is “typically located in the backyard of an existing home, but separate and isolated from the main residence,” according to a definition released by the city. “The garden suite offered an affordable alternative to add more space to the house where we can accommodate family members who want to come closer to us,” Liu said, noting that both he and his partner are immigrants and reunification with family is important to them. Their enthusiasm was quickly dampened when a group of Toronto residents’ associations appealed the regulation to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT). This week, the OLT dismissed the appeal, saying it lacked jurisdiction to hear the application. The group that started the appeal say they are disappointed. He cites environmental concerns and says developers could take advantage of the regulation, making housing even less affordable. But the city of Toronto says allowing more variety in the type and form of housing in its neighborhoods is a solution to the housing crisis. Pinto says he and his partner were relieved to learn of the layoff. Within the next few years they plan to design and build their dream garden suite, which they say will be environmentally friendly and have a smaller footprint than their main house. “At the end of the day, this is our property … We paid for it. I think we should be able to do whatever we like as long as we don’t disturb our neighbors,” Pinto said.
This “won’t be mom and pop building something”
William Roberts, the attorney for the group that appealed the ordinance, says the move will do more harm than good to first-time homebuyers, noting that investment firms are already buying homes to convert into multiple units. “Now they’re going to be competing with an investment company that can see right away that they can slap a garden suite on a patio,” said Roberts, who is also the president of the Confederation of Residents and Ratepayers Associations in Toronto. He says investors could charge $4,000 to $5,000 a month for the suites. “Now all of a sudden it’s a different calculation and the price of the home will go up,” he said, adding that the cost of building a garden suite can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. William Roberts, the lawyer representing the group of seven applicants who appealed the Toronto bylaw to the Ontario Land Court, says allowing the garden suites will ultimately increase housing costs. (Submitted by William Roberts) “This isn’t going to be a mom and pop building something for their grandkids or their kids building something for their grandparents. That’s expensive enough. Investors will come.” In the appeal, the group of associations argued that “the city clearly overstepped provincial regulations limiting garden suites to single-family, semi-detached and townhouses. allow garden suites to be zoned for multiplexes and low-rise apartments without developing appropriate standards.” Christine Mercado, president of the Long Branch Neighborhood Association in west Toronto, says residents were shut out of airing their planning concerns during the appeal. “A lot of our concerns were based on environmental issues because this is a form of intensification in neighborhoods,” he said, adding that they are concerned about how large the structures are allowed and what impact they will have on the neighborhood tree. Christine Mercado, the president of the Long Branch Neighborhood Association in west Toronto, is concerned about the impact the garden suites will have on the area’s backyard trees. (Submitted by Christine Mercado) “When you start building a regular building in a backyard, removing the tree is pretty amazing.” Mercado says the group is concerned that once important trees are removed, they will be lost forever. “The city has declared that we are in a state of environmental emergency and we believe the city is doing a poor job of protecting important trees.”
Move will create affordability, equity: councillor
Coun. Ana Bailão, who represents Ward 9, Davenport, and is chair of the city council’s planning and housing committee, says the goal was to give people more housing options. “The garden suite is for a lot of people who don’t have a driveway. You could have a garage in the back and you can have a garden suite in your garden as a unit of your house.” Bailão says she recognizes it’s not the only solution to the city’s housing needs, but says it’s one of many tools. “It will create a level of housing affordability and create some equity in our neighborhoods.” The rule Garden suites are often a way to create homes for family members – parents, grandparents or grown children – or to be used as rental properties. pic.twitter.com/v8tPqRtns7 —@TorontosMayor Bailão says the tree protections outlined for garden suites in the bylaw are stronger than the policy for single-family homes. “Anyone can buy a bungalow in Etobicoke and make what we call a ‘monster house’ … and they won’t have as much tree protection as we put in this bylaw,” he said. Bailão also says that if investors take the opportunity to build rental units, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. “We also need rental stock in our city. Fifty percent of the people in our city live in rental units; sometimes people forget that.” Meanwhile, Pinto looks forward to how the garden suites could transform his area. “Having more neighbors is good. Having a more vibrant neighborhood is good.”
