Needless to say, 2018 was a whirlwind of a year for us here at Lanescape. We began the year deeply enthralled in our efforts to show the City of Toronto how laneway development could be a viable means of supporting density and a new breed of accessible urban housing. While we were still uncertain of the outcome, knowing that we were very close to changing lanes was all the motivation we needed to dig our heels in and ramp up the charge. After a long two years of community consultations and staff reports, the TEYCC was slated to make their decision in May. We were on the edge of our seats. Much to our dismay, the council voted to defer their decision, requesting further information before making a commitment. A month later, the motion was finally approved in principle and forwarded to Council for formal approval and enactment. By Summer’s end, the city had it’s brand new Changing Lanes Policy (By-law 810-2018) in place!
Lanescape’s work didn’t stop here, however. Our team of designers and builders begun work on making laneway suites a reality across the city. We structure everything we do at our practice around three key tenets; advocacy, education and consultancy – each of which informing and overlapping one another. Since August, we’ve been collecting ongoing data on how to improve the by-laws, pushing the municipality for immediate clarity on key issues, hosting workshops, disseminating information to the public and designing personalized laneway suites for homeowners across the city.
So, here we are. We always had the utmost confidence that our efforts would come to fruition one day, but definitely could not have imagined the support we have received in 2018 and the three years prior. Thank you to the community groups, councillors, city staff, partners, planning professionals and passionate Torontonians for your support in making the Changing Lanes policy a reality. Without you, laneway development would not have been possible in our beloved city. Our hard fought and well deserved success just goes to show that together we can make positive change on a massive scale!
Our office will be closed for the holidays from December 21st, reopening on January 7th. Please stay tuned to our social media for ongoing updates on our efforts in 2019. We will be continuing to host laneway suite workshops with the first three installments scheduled for January 30th, March 13th and May 29th, 2019.
We wish you a happy holidays and a wonderful new year, from the Lanescape family to yours. Here’s to making 2019 another incredible year together! 