Garden suites now legal in Toronto after appeal fails. But opponents still speaking out

Lai Chung LiuandDiogo Pinto had their extended family in mind when they bought a much bigger property than they'd needlast year.

"Units with in-law suites are really expensive and very desirable by investors so we instead looked for a big backyard," Pinto said.

WhenToronto city council passeda bylawin February that would allow garden suites, that sounded like the perfect solution.A garden suite is"usually located in the backyard of an existing house, but separate and detached from the main house," according to a definition released by the city.

"The garden suite offered an affordable alternative to addmore space to the house where we can accommodate family members who want to move closer to us," Liu said, noting both heand his partner are immigrants and reunitingwith family is important to them.

Their excitementquickly dimmed when thebylaw was appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) by a group of Toronto residents' associations. This week,the OLT dismissed the appeal, saying it did not have the jurisdiction to hear the application.

The group that launched the appealsays it'sdisappointed. It citesenvironmental concerns and saysdevelopers couldtake advantage of the bylaw, making housing even less affordable.Butthe City of Toronto says allowing greater variety in the type and form of housingin itsneighbourhoods is one solution to thehousing crisis.

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Pinto says heand his partner were relieved to hear about the dismissal.Within the next few years, they plan to design and build their dreamgarden suite, which they say will be environmentally friendly andhave a smaller footprint than their main house.

"In the end, this is our property We paid for it. I think we should be able to do what we like as long as we aren't disturbing our neighbours," Pinto said.

This 'won't be mom and pop building something'

William Roberts, the lawyer for the group who appealedthe bylaw,says the move will do more harm than good for first-time home buyers, noting investment companies are already buying up houses to convert into multiple units.

"Now they'll becompeting with an investment firm that can see immediately they can slap a garden suite in a backyard," said Roberts, who is alsothe chair of the Confederation of Resident and Ratepayer Associations in Toronto.

Hesaysinvestors could charge $4,000to $5,000 a month for the suites.

"Now all of a sudden there's a different calculation and the price of housing will go up," he said, adding the cost of building a garden suite can behundreds of thousands of dollars.

"That won't be a mom and pop building something for their grandkids or their kids building something for their grandparents. That's pretty expensive. You're going to have investors coming in."

In the appeal,the group of associationsargued"the city clearly over-reached provincial regulations that limit garden suites to single detached, semi-detached, and townhouses. The alliance further states there are "neither legal authority, nor good planning arguments, to allow garden suites in zoning for multiplexes and low-rise apartments without development of appropriate standards."

Christine Mercado, chair of the Long Branch Neighbourhood Association in west-end Toronto, says residents were excluded from presenting their planning concerns duringthe appeal.

"Alot of our concerns were environmentally based because this is a form of intensification in neighbourhoods," she said, adding they're concerned about how large the structures are allowed to be and whatimpact they'll have onthe neighbourhoodtree canopy.

"When you start building an as-of-right building in a backyard, the tree removal is quite astounding."

Mercado says the group is concerned that once significant trees are taken down, they'll be lost forever.

"The city has declared we are under an environmental emergency and we think the city is doing a poor job of protecting significant trees."

Move will create affordability, equity: councillor

Coun. Ana Bailo, who represents Ward 9, Davenport,and is chair of city council'splanning and housing committee, says providing people with more housing options was the goal.

"The garden suiteis for a lot that does not have a laneway. You could have a garage at the back, and can have a garden suite in your garden as a unit of your house."

Bailosays she recognizes it's not the only solution to the city's housing needs, but says it's one of a number oftools.

"It'sgoing to be creating a level of housing affordability and it's going to create some equity in our neighbourhoods."

Bailosays the tree protections outlined for garden suites in the bylaw are stronger than the policy for single-family homes.

"Anyone can buy a bungalow inEtobicoke and do what we call a 'monster home' ... and they wouldn't have as much tree protection as we put in this bylaw," she said.

Bailoalso says if investors jump on the opportunity to build rental units, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"We also need rental stock in our city. Fifty per cent of people in our city live in rental units;sometimes people forget that."

Meanwhile, Pinto looks forward tohow garden suites might transform his area.

"Having more neighbours is good. Having a neighbourhood become more vibrantis good."