# More homes, less rezonings

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2024-11-12

6-storey-apartments, as-of-right, development, fourplexes, housing, land-use-planning, mid-rise-buildings, mid-rise-guidelines, mid-rise-performance-standards, planning, real-estate, toronto, toronto-official-plan

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One of the really positive things that is happening in the world of Toronto land use planning is that the minimum scale of development that is permitted _as-of-right_ continues to grow. We've gone from fourplexes to 6-storey apartments, and [now we're talking about](https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/ph/bgrd/backgroundfile-249713.pdf) mid-rise buildings (6-11 storeys) and even some tall buildings (12 storeys or more).

What this ultimately means is being able to build _without_ a rezoning application. That means no site specific negotiation, and no fighting over whether the building should be 32 meters tall or 30.5 meters tall with a 2.4 meter stepback because of shadowing concerns on someone's heritage-designated garden gnome. It means getting under construction sooner.

Here are some of the [specific ideas being reviewed](https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/ph/bgrd/backgroundfile-249713.pdf):

*   Expand the number of streets designated as "Avenues" throughout Toronto (Avenues are a defined term and where we have decided that mid-rise buildings should go)
    
*   New Official Plan policies that would encourage more mid-rise buildings on Avenues
    
*   Eliminate the rear angular plane requirement (currently a mid-rise performance standard); this is expected to produce ~30% more homes in your typical mid-rise development
    
*   Increase as-of-right permitted heights to 6-11 storeys (the city estimates that this will unlock ~61,000 additional homes)
    
*   Introduce "transition zones" between Avenues and low-rise neighborhoods, which could then accommodate things like low-rise towns and apartments up to 4 storeys (it's worth noting that transition zones were initially part of Toronto's mid-rise performance standards but then got removed for some reason)
    

This is meaningful progress. Let's enact and keep going.

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/more-homes,-less-rezonings)*