# More homes, less rezonings

**Published by:** [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/)
**Published on:** 2024-11-12
**Categories:** 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
**URL:** https://brandondonnelly.com/more-homes%2C-less-rezonings

## Content

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 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: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 AvenuesEliminate the rear angular plane requirement (currently a mid-rise performance standard); this is expected to produce ~30% more homes in your typical mid-rise developmentIncrease 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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