Dealing with snow, shops in residential areas: What to know about Toronto council's agenda

While Toronto’s early snowfall may have been an unwelcome surprise for many, a major discussion on the defining Canadian characteristic at Toronto city council this week has been months in the making. 

An update on how the city will better handle snowstorms, after last winter’s massive February dump, is high on the agenda with city council set to meet over three days starting Wednesday.

Councillors will also get the chance to weigh in on the debate around letting more small retail businesses into single-family home neighbourhoods, a subject that prompted hours of passionate deputations at the committee level. 

After three storms in nine days last February, more than 50 centimetres of snow temporarily held the city hostage. Residents were unhappy with efforts to clear sidewalks and local roads, spurring council to request a consultant’s review that would find out what didn’t work and how things could be better this winter. 

That report is now finalized and council will hear what staff plan to do better. One of the central issues identified by Municipal VU Consulting Inc. is that while the city's contracts include resources for salting and plowing, they lack specific snow removal resources. That meant the snow was being plowed, but as it kept piling up, crews were running out of places to push it. 

“Don’t ask me, I wasn’t there to sign that contract,” Mayor Olivia Chow said while speaking to a Canadian Club audience Monday in downtown Toronto. “There were a series of contracts. I looked at it and said, ‘Pardon me? No snow removal?'” 

But consultants say negotiating within existing contracts or creating new ones would cost $24 million to $130 million, something Toronto can’t afford, city manager Paul Johnson told reporters when the report was discussed at executive committee. 

“Recognize that we don't get these massive dumps of snow all that often,” Johnson said on CBC Radio's Metro Morning Monday. 

Instead, according to his report before councillors, city staff will lead proactive snow removal once it piles up to eight centimetres. Last winter, the protocol was to wait until snow was creating blockages before starting removal. 

Johnson will also be sharing more information on how the city will deal with cars blocking streetcars. After February’s dump, the TTC reported dozens of incidents where drivers left cars parked against snowbanks blocking transit commuters. 

While some corner stores, cafes and shops dot some of the city’s residential neighbourhoods, this type of property use was strictly limited by mid-20th century city hall policies.

There was a chance councillors would be voting this week on a zoning amendment that would allow that to change, permitting small stores and takeout restaurants on corner lots in single-family home neighbourhoods, and giving residents access to more goods and services without getting in a car. 

But instead they will consider allowing businesses to open on more stretches of major streets, a planning classification that covers about 1,200 kilometres of road in Toronto, after pushback at the planning and housing committee. 

While businesses can already open across most sections of major streets, about 250 kilometres are zoned as residential and are similar in character to single-family neighbourhoods.