Construction can begin at Toronto’s Lower Don Lands redevelopment before flood-protection infrastructure is completed, the province announced on Friday.“By reducing Ontario’s regulatory burden we’re smoothing the way for the first of many projects in the Lower Don area,” Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark said in a statement announcing a change to the provincial building code. The move is specific to the area near the mouth of the Don River, which is being redeveloped by Waterfront Toronto, an agency created by the governments of Canada, Ontario and the City of Toronto. The move is meant to speed development of the waterfront area east of downtown, which has long been priority for the city. Plans for the redevelopment include new urban neighbourhoods, parks, green infrastructure, and an integrated GO/Smart track station. The ministry claims that development will create more than 50,000 jobs “add an estimated $5.1 billion to the Canadian economy.”Under the building code amendment, new buildings will not be allowed to be occupied until the flood risk in the area is removed, Clark said.Toronto’s Port Lands area is in a floodplain, and for years has remained “effectively undevelopable and economically underutilized until the flood risk is removed,” according to Waterfront Toronto. Since 2014, plans have been put into place — at a cost of $1.25 billion — to revitalize the area and mitigate the risk of floods.The redevelopment of the area will create a new naturalized mouth for the Don River, according to a 2016 report from Waterfront Toronto on the flood-protection plan. The plan “will result in two additional outlets for the Don River,” the report states, “which ultimately will be surrounded by new parks, green space and public realm enhancements before and as development occurs in the area.”Ilya Bañares is a breaking news reporter, working out of ...
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