Item - 2016.PW16.8

The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee deferred consideration of the item indefinitely.

City Council on December 9 and 10, 2015, referred Motion MM11.21 to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee.

Currently, Section 918-5B of the Municipal Code states that the General Manager shall not accept a front yard parking application for front yard parking for residential properties located within the area of the former City of Toronto.  Since this moratorium was put in place, it has achieved its goal in retaining permeable surface to address water runoff on private property.

Basement flooding is a City-wide issue.  Through the creation of the City's Basement Flooding Protection Program Council directed staff to reduce the risk of basement flooding through a combination of public drainage system improvements and through the use of policies, by-laws, and incentives to reduce flood risks on private and public properties.  Currently, the budget for this work sits at $1.638 billion for the next 10 years.

Paved surfaces, such as parking pads, exacerbate the basement flooding problem because rather than be absorbed, into permeable surface such as grass, stormwater runs into the City's watermains causing capacity issues which can result in wet basements.

Consistent with the City's Basement Flood Protection program and in light of the fact that Torontonian's will be confronted with the cost of stormwater management through the creation of a new surcharge, it would be wise to looks for ways to retain permeable surface on private property to mitigate costs on all sides.  Extending the moratorium on parking pads to all wards throughout the City is one way to achieve this.

The purpose of this report is to provide an interim status update on the work completed to date to respond to Council's request of January 21, 2016 for a report from the General Manager, Transportation Services regarding the feasibility of "Extending the Parking Pad Moratorium to areas outside of the former City of Toronto."

In order to fully address the scope and complexity of the issues surrounding Front Yard Parking (FYP) in the City of Toronto, staff require additional time to ensure a comprehensive review of the matter.