海角社区官网

But not, apparently, in Willowdale.

More than two years after city council approved the housing plan for the site, these 59 modular homes remain far less than the sum of their parts. Because, absent necessary approvals, they鈥檙e still just literally parts.

Those parts were, for a time, stacked up in a TTC parking lot outside the Finch subway station. They鈥檝e since been moved to an indoor facility outside Toronto, racking up a monthly storage bill of $77,000, according to Willowdale city councillor Lily Cheng.

It鈥檚 an absurd story of costly government inaction. And it could get worse.

Cheng, who was elected last fall on a platform that , has brought two motions to this week鈥檚 meeting of 海角社区官网council, which kicks off tomorrow. One motion . The other , kicking off a search for a new site where the pieces in storage could finally be assembled.

If either motion passes, it鈥檒l just spell more delay for housing.

Let鈥檚 be clear, though. This is not just a story of one oppositional local councillor. There鈥檚 a lot of blame to go around. And, in the context of the mayoral election, it all makes for a damn good question to ask candidates who purport to care about housing.

But let鈥檚 start with the blame. Premier Doug Ford鈥檚 provincial government deserves a significant chunk of it. PC MPP Stan Cho, who represents the area, has been a vocal opponent of the modular development, and his opposition has had an effect. While the city鈥檚 other modular housing projects were granted Minister鈥檚 Zoning Orders, or MZOs 鈥� allowing the city to skip the slow and bureaucratic rezoning process 鈥� by Ford鈥檚 Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark, the Cummer Avenue site has been conspicuously denied the same treatment.

City council responded to the lack of an MZO, eventually, by green-lighting a traditional rezoning process, but that process is slow. So let鈥檚 parcel out some blame for municipal politicians past and present who supported a local zoning regime that makes it virtually impossible to quickly build affordable housing without first asking the provincial government for permission to bypass the local zoning regime.

But reserve the brunt of your ire for the local residents鈥� associations in Willowdale, who opposed the project every step of the way. They argued the city hadn鈥檛 consulted with the community (there were ). They argued the plan would take away from a green space enjoyed by seniors at the adjacent Willowdale Manor Seniors Care Home facility (the site has always been zoned for residential development 鈥� it鈥檚 not a park). They argued that the project would mean current residents might be

If it must exist at all, they want the project to be restricted to senior citizens. But they鈥檙e also concerned that residents won鈥檛 have easy access to a walkable grocery store. But they鈥檇 also like more parking spaces. The Bayview Cummer Neighbourhood Association has packaged a bunch of these kinds of arguments and appealed the rezoning to the Ontario Land Tribunal 鈥� further gumming up the works 鈥� with a hearing date set for the end of this month.

This is all playing out in the context of a city desperate for more housing projects exactly like this one. Homeless people are dying. Shelters are jam-packed. Council has declared it an emergency. But if a few politicians and residents’ associations can put up this many obstacles to a project to build just 59 supportive housing units, how the hell is the city going to ever make a dent in housing the more than 24,000 people on the supportive housing waiting list?

Which brings us back to the mayoral race. One important responsibility of the next mayor will be pushing back 鈥� and pushing back hard 鈥� against those who oppose housing at every turn. So here鈥檚 a stock question for all 102 candidates who are running: do you support the Cummer Avenue modular housing project? If they鈥檙e really serious about housing, the answer is easy: a simple and unequivocal yes.