Toronto seeks input on sign and billboard regulations

City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:

==========================================

News Release:  February 18, 2015                                           

Toronto seeks input on sign and billboard regulations

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 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 Toronto Sign Bylaw could apply to signs and billboards that existed prior to the current Sign Bylaw being enacted in 2010.

If approved by the Province of Ontario, 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 such as 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 of this year 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 St., Council Chamber

• Wednesday, February 25, York Civic Centre, 2700 Eglinton Ave. W., Council Chamber

• Tuesday, March 3, Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen St. W., Committee Room 1

• Thursday, March 5, Scarborough Civic Centre, 150 Borough Dr., Committee Rooms 1 and 2

Specific issues being considered as part of this consultation include:

• to which signs and billboards should the current Sign Bylaw apply?

• 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 are required to comply, how should the City go about achieving compliance?

For those unable to attend in person, comments can be sent directly to signbylawunit@toronto.ca.

More information is available at http://www.toronto.ca/signs.

This news release is also available on the City's website: http://bit.ly/1CIG3Oi

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.

- 30 -

Media contact: Tammy Robbinson, Strategic Communications, 416-338-3761, trobbin@toronto.ca