Item - 2015.PW5.1

The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee recommends that:

1.   City Council approve the following temporary street occupation permit fees applicable to the occupation of a roadway by placing machinery or material on the roadway without excavation in each area of the City as identified in Appendix A to this report, effective October 1, 2015, and amend Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 441, Fees and Charges, Appendix C – Schedule 2, and Chapter 743, to include any necessary area descriptions and to add these fees as a precondition to receiving the necessary permit:

a.   Area AA of Appendix A to this report at $105.41 per square metre per month (Fee Ref. No. 38.1);

b.   Area A of Appendix A to this report at $79.06 per square metre per month (Fee Ref. No. 38.2);

c.   Area B of Appendix A to this report at  $59.29 per square metre per month  (Fee Ref. No. 38.3);

d.   Area C of Appendix A to this report at  $52.71 per square metre per month (Fee Ref. No. 38.4);

e.   Area D of Appendix A to this report at  $39.53 per square metre per month (Fee Ref. No. 38.5); and

f.   All other areas within the City of Toronto at $26.35 per square metre per month (Fee Ref. No. 38.6)

2.   City Council approve retaining the temporary occupation permit fees applicable to the occupation of  a sidewalk or boulevard by placing machinery or material on the roadway without excavation across the City at $5.77 per square metre per month (Fee Ref. No. 38).

3.   City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services in consultation with the Executive Director, Financial Planning to report to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on the feasibility of implementing a system of escalating street occupation permit fees over time to provide a disincentive to extended durations for street occupations.

4.  City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with the Executive Director, Financial Planning to report to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee in the fourth quarter of 2015 with additional options to provide incentives to shorten the duration of street occupations, including:

            a.  escalating street occupation permit fees over time;

b.  increasing street occupation permit fees at the time of renewal;

c.  incentive options including providing rebates or refunds for the early termination of street occupations; and

d.  in consultation with the City Manager and appropriate City divisions, information on the full spectrum of fees paid to the City by builders as part of construction operations.

5.  City Council request the City Manager, in consultation with the City Solicitor, to report, as part of the review of the City of Toronto Act, 2006, on the feasibility of imposing fees for congestion-related user or economic impacts, such as the time and productivity losses associated with lane occupations.

6.   City Council authorize the City Solicitor to submit the necessary bills to Council to amend the Toronto Municipal Code to implement these recommendations, and direct staff to take the necessary steps to implement Council's decision.

As the City of Toronto continues to intensify with residential and commercial development, especially in the core of the City, pressure to accommodate various and conflicting uses of public space – particularly the roadway – persist.  Development projects, built to the lot line often by City requirement, require the temporary use of adjacent space in the public right-of-way for the protection of construction sites, deliveries, and storage of materials.  These temporary street occupations, which can last for months or years, often reduce the amount of capacity on the roadway for vehicular traffic and have been identified as a contributing factor to traffic congestion.

As approved by City Council in Municipal Code Chapter 441, Transportation Services currently charges a flat rate of $5.77, exclusive of HST, for a permit to occupy one square metre of space in the public right-of-way for one month.  This permit fee does not take into account the type of space being occupied (sidewalk, boulevard, roadway) or the location of the space within the city.  When on-street metered parking spaces managed by the Toronto Parking Authority are displaced, the lost revenues associated with the street occupation are recuperated from the permit holder in addition to the permit fees.

This report is recommending that the existing citywide flat fee be changed to an area-based fee, and that permit fee rates be based on the market rate for space on public roadways as informed by on-street metered parking rates.  The purpose in changing this fee is to more accurately reflect market rates for the rental of the roadway and to encourage entities that must be in the roadway to reduce the size and duration of their street occupations.  This proposal would create six zones with permit fees ranging from $26.35 to $105.41 per square metre per month, inclusive of lost parking meter revenues, but exclusive of HST.  These fees would be applied to the roadway only, where vehicular traffic is impacted; sidewalks and boulevards would continue to be permitted at the existing rate of $5.77 per square metre per month.