The Zoroastrian Temple in Toronto: A Case Study in Land Use Regulation, Canadian-Style
Author | Eran Kaplinsky |
Pages | 223-257 |
ニニヌ
The Zoroastrian Temple in Toronto:
A Case Study in Land Use Regulation,
CanadianStyle
EranKaplinsky*
Introduction
Oin Toronto at the southwest corner of Bayview Avenue
and Steeles Avenuestands a stately twostorey residence overlooking the
ravine that separates it from the busy intersection. The mansion stands out
amongtheupscale suburbanhomes oftheneighbourhood foritslarge size
andsTudorRevivalarchitect ureAgateandwroughtiron fenceguard
themainentrancetothesouthAwellwornpavedroadoBayviewAvenue
leads to a second entrance. At various times the house was known as “Tudor
HillWindrushH illtheRuddhouseandtheMazodelaRoc heman
sion” after the famous Canadian author who, as a small plaque notes, once
livedthereThesignnowreadssimplyZoroastria nTempleBayview
The controversy that engulfed the house over thirty years ago, highlighted
in HGWintonLtdvNorthYork,ist hequ inte ssent ial story ofzon ingr egu la
tion in Ca nada.
The Zoning Power
Z best known and arg uably the most important mean s
ofreg ulati ngth euseo fland inCa nadaMu nicip alzon ingp owersar ederive d
* I would like to tha nk Brandon Mewhart and Tim Groves for their research
assistance.
ニニネEranKaplinsky
from enabling provincial legislat iona nd while the specic arrangements
varyf romjur isdiction toju risdiction zoning bylawsty picallycon sistof a
map dividing the municipal territory into dist ricts or zonesand a text
documentseingoutforeachdistricttheusesthatmaybemadeoflandand
the development standards, such as height and bulk limitations, that apply
tobuildingsTheeectofzoningistoestablishorstabilizethepredominant
character of the various areas in the municipality, be it residential, commer
cial, or otherw ise.
ZoningemergedinNorthAmericaintheearlydecadesofthethcentury
Local governments had previously exercised limited public control over the
builtenvironmentthroughvarioushealtha ndbuildingcodesaimedchiey
atcontai ning re and contagionbut the paerns of land use within each
community were determined largely by topography, the location of ports
and railways, and common business sense, and were unreg ulated except by
the common law of nuisance and the use of private restrictive covenants.
Howeverwith rapidurbani zationi ndustrialization and increase di mmi
gration came a demand for new municipal powers over land use and de
velopment, which was met by the enactment of suitable enabling legislation
bythevariou sprovincesForexa mpleinmunicipal itiesinBrit ishCol
ViewoftheMazodelaRochehous efromCreeksideRoadPhotoERAA rchitects
TheZoroastrianTempleinTorontoニニノ
umbiawerepermiedtodenethestreetsorareaswithinwhichlaundries
or washhouses may be established maintained or operated Similarly,
Ontario municipalities were authorized in to preventreg ulate and
control the location, erection and use of buildings for laundries, butcher’s
shops, stores and manufactories.”
I n KitchenerO ntariobec amethe
rstCanadianmunicipalit ytoadoptazoningbylawthatdividedthewhole
municipal territory into use districts in accordance with a comprehensive
town pla n.ThepracticeofzoningspreadacrossCanadasoonafterandthen
inthe UnitedStates oncethe constitutionality ofzoni ngwasse ledbyt he
USSupremeCourtin
Comprehensivezoningwasc hampionedbyan emergingplann ingpro
fession captivated by ideals such as the “City Beautiful,” and later the “City
EcientZoning also appealed to professional s urveyorsarc hitects and
engineers, as well as reformers and housing advocates, who shared the
planners’ belief that it would promote orderly growth and a more salubrious
urban environment. In the US, the federal administration actively encour
agedtheproliferationofzoningas ameanstoexpandinghomeownership
Planninga ndzoningwereconsonantw iththetenetsoft heProgressiveEra
intheirpromisetoamelioratesocietythroughscienticexpertiseandgood
governance, and were endorsed in Canada largely on similar premise s.
Despiteitspromisetopromotet hepublicgoodhoweverzoningwould
not have gained popularity if it had not appealed to the private interest of
homeowners and developers. New modes of transportation introduced in
theearlypartsofthe thcentury rsttheelectr icstreetcarandt henthe
private automobile — created new opportunities for development and fun
damentally altered land use paerns across Nort h America A suburban
century” began, as manufacturers no longer needed to build their factories
next to ports or railways, and workers no longer needed to live near their
place of employment. The suburbs beckoned to the middle class in particu
laroeringbeerneighbourhoodamenitiesandanewsocialstatusButthe
sameeaseofaccessthatmadeexclusiveresidentialenclavessoaractivealso
made them vulnerable to intrusion by uses a nd users deemed “undesirable,”
including multifamily housing. Zoning was to the middle class a defender
oftheirnewlyfoundsuburbanidealByentrustingzoningtoloca llyelected
councillorscaref ullyaunedtot heirwishesprivi legedhomeownerscould
obtainthe nextbestthingto adirect voteonwhomaybeadmiedtot heir
neighbourhoods. This de facto right to exclude was also a boon to real es
tate interests, because it protected land values and promoted investment in
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