posted on August 18, 2008

Globe and Mail: Zoning patchwork frustrates propane regulation

Despite city hall's promises, moving facilities away from residential areas

may not take place until new bylaw is previewed next year

By: JOSH WINGROVE
Published: August 13, 2008
Source: Globe and Mail

Pledges to move or close down major propane storage sites like the one that blew up on Sunday, resulting in the deaths of two people, were promptly offered yesterday at city hall.

But they will be difficult to execute, experts said, in part because the city has yet to combine its zoning systems (and their 43 different bylaws) into a single planning regime, more than 10 years after the amalgamation of Toronto, York, East York, North York, Etobicoke, Scarborough and Metro into one city. A single, overarching bylaw will be previewed next year, but until then, any changes won't be easy.

"That's why we're doing this project. ... I was hoping to get this done before things like this happened again," said Joe D'Abramo, the city's director of zoning bylaw and environmental planning, who is heading the five-year task of combining the rules - a metre-high stack of papers weighing 35 kilograms.

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