By Hamutal Dotan

   As anticipated, City Council has just voted 36–8 to repeal the harmonized zoning bylaw that was passed with some fanfare last year. The giant omnibus bylaw (it numbers roughly 7,000 pages) was created to synthesize the patchwork of zoning bylaws that had been in place for 10 years, a holdover from the amalgamation when each of the previous municipalities that make up Toronto had their own separate zoning regulations. The new package of rules was always bound to be a daunting logistical challenge—with thousands of provisions, snags were inevitable—but a high number of OMB appeals and resident complaints caused councillors to reconsider the package that had been passed.
As a result of today’s vote, the bylaw will be re-examined by the City’s chief planner and executive director of planning. They will consult with various concerned parties and with the public to determine what changes to the zoning regulations might be required. Council will consider the new, revised, harmonized zoning bylaw once that process has been completed; the goal is to have the new version of the zoning bylaw passed by early 2012.