A Toronto councillor wants to retain some character in the city by looking at a measure to limit developments from major big box retail chains.
Trinity-Spadina Councillor Mike Layton wants to see the city take some action to curb the spread of “formulaic retail” that he says is “homogenizing” the city’s neighbourhoods.
“What I have asked for is actually a report on what can be done in Toronto to help us deal with the notion of our retail strips becoming homogeneous,” Layton told AM640’s morning show, “It’s gonna look at examples around the world of cities and what tools they are using to protect the diversity of their retail.”
LISTEN: Councillor Mike Layton joins the AM640 Morning Show
“When you look at every new condo development that comes in, it’s almost the exact same thing on their main floor,” said Layton, “They’re building it so that it can really only be one thing, they’re financing it depending on having these 20-year leases that only big box and formula retail can accommodate.”
In looking for retail diversity, Layton is in favour of a blueprint being used in San Francisco to deter retail space from going to the big box companies. The Formula Retail Use policy defines the big-time retailers using several measures including how many retail stores they own across the United States. Chains with more than eleven stores maintaining two or more features, like a standardized array of merchandise, or standardized facade, could see an application rejected.
“When you look at what San Francisco did they said ‘yeah sure, in some neighbourhoods it might be appropriate,'” Layton said. “In others it might be appropriate with conditions and in some cases it may be something to restrict entirely.”
Layton’s motion will be discussed by city council in the near future. If council decides to pursue the issue, the next step would be a city staff report that could suggest potential policy next year.
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