If Kristyn Wong-Tam gets her way, those big white development notification signs are going to get a little more useful for the general public.
They've already taken a leap in that direction, starting in January 2011, when they started to include illustrations of the proposed development in the upper left hand corner of
the sign. The printing, too, took a turn for the better, leaving behind the all caps in favour of typography that didn’t imply it was yelling at you.
But there are still two problems, as
Wong-Tam, councillor for Ward 27, sees it.
"There is no consistency," she says. "This is something I've been working with the planning department on. Why in one case do I see an elevation from the street, and other times a bird-eye view? I think it's a little bit confusing, but it is something they're working on."
But more fundamental is the fact that there is nothing in the planning act that requires developers to submit completed applications. Though submitting renderings of a proposed development are part of the application process, most developers do not submit complete applications.
"Almost 99 per cent of the time, the form comes back to me incomplete," says Wong-Tam, whose downtown ward is home to an especially large number of development projects.
The councillor suggests that if people have any other concerns or suggestions regarding how proposed developments are announced, they can write to
[email protected].
Writer: Bert Archer
Source; Kristyn Wong-Tam
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