100 signatures reached
To: City of Toronto
Protect heritage workmans cottages from development
Have a bylaw to protect all homes that fall under the definition of a Workmans Cottage in the City of Toronto and to amend residential zoning bylaw 10.10.40.10 Height, to have an exception for Workmans cottages to not allow for any height extensions above what already is it's current maximum height.
Why is this important?
Workmans cottages should have a blanket protection in the City of Toronto as very few remain. Developers have taken advantage of too many loopholes provided by the city to destroy these historic homes. This would be a similar blanket protection that Montreal imposed for their "Shoebox homes" https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/shoebox-bylaw-referendum-1.5076513 . The essence of the workman's cottage was to provide affordable housing, with land, to the lower working class which is still relevant and needed today, allowing three stories to be built from a one-story defeats the whole purpose of what these homes represented over a century ago, and is a strong historic icon that needs to be protect.