The City of Toronto is looking for input from the public and business owners on potential changes to the City of Toronto Act and the Toronto Sign Bylaw. The proposed changes would increase the City's ability to implement and enforce the Sign Bylaw.
At the January 8, 2015 meeting of the Planning and Growth Management Committee, staff recommended that Council request the province to amend the City of Toronto Act so that the city's Sign Bylaw could apply to signs and billboards that existed prior to the current Sign Bylaw being enacted.
If approved by the Province, the amendment to the City of Toronto Act could restore the level of authority back to similar levels that, prior to 1983 existed for municipalities in Ontario and that currently exist in other large Canadian cities (e.g.: Vancouver and Montreal).
In response to the staff recommendations, City Council requested that staff hold public and stakeholder consultations on this request to the Province and report back to council in April 2015 on how the city should address existing non-conforming signs if the Province amends the City of Toronto Act.
All residents, property owners, businesses, and members of the public are invited to attend one of the following workshops from 7 to 9 p.m. to speak with City staff about their thoughts and ideas on this subject. A brief presentation will start at 7:15 p.m.
Tuesday, February 24, North York Civic Centre, 5100 Yonge Street, Council Chambers
Wednesday February 25, York Civic Centre, 2700 Eglinton Avenue W, Council Chambers
Tuesday March 3, Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, Committee Room 1
Thursday, March 5, Scarborough Civic Centre, 150 Borough Drive, Committee Rooms 1&2
Specific issues being considered as part of this consultation include:
Which signs and billboards should the current Sign Bylaw apply to?
To what extent should the current Sign Bylaw apply to lawfully existing signs and billboards that don’t meet the current requirements of the Sign Bylaw (because they existed prior to the current bylaw being enacted), if at all?
If existing signs and billboards don’t comply with the current Sign Bylaw and were required to comply, how should the City go about achieving this?
For those unable to attend in person, comments can also be sent directly to signbylawunit@toronto.ca.
