Designation of Private Roadways as Fire Routes
in the Former City of Toronto
The Emergency and Protective Services Committee recommends the adoption of the
report dated April 22, 1999, from the City Solicitor.
The Emergency and Protective Services Committee reports, for the information of Council,
having requested the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services and the Fire Chief to
consider the feasibility of limiting the fire route designation to no more than that required by
the Fire Code when reporting to the Community Services Committee on fire harmonization
issues.
The Emergency and Protective Services Committee submits the following report (April
22, 1999) from the City Solicitor:
Purpose:
To amend the Traffic and Parking Code as found in the former City of Toronto Municipal
Code with respect to the designation of private roadways as fire routes in the former City of
Toronto urban area.
Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:
Not applicable.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
(1)the Traffic and Parking Code as found in the former City of Toronto Municipal Code be
amended:
(a)to authorize the City Solicitor to process by-laws designating fire routes in the former
City of Toronto urban area on certification by the Fire Chief that the criteria set out in the
Code have been met; and
(b)to designate the Toronto Community Council as the committee to which an owner of a
private roadway whose application for the designation of the roadway as a fire route has been
refused by the Fire Chief may appeal such refusal;
(2)any pending applications for fire route designations in the former City of Toronto urban
area be processed in accordance with the revised Traffic and Parking Code; and
(3)all City staff take the action necessary to implement the measures set out in this report.
Council Reference/Background/History:
The following Committee reports and By-law are relevant to this report:
(1)former City of Toronto City Services Committee Report Nos. 13:100 and 17:28, adopted
by the former Toronto City Council on September 14 and 15, 1992, and December 7 and 8,
1992, respectively, and former City of Toronto City Services Committee Report Nos. 15:2 and
16:28, adopted by former Toronto City Council on November 27 and 28, 1995, and
December18, 1995, respectively, all of which deal with the streamlining of City services
(including the designation of private roadways as fire routes);
(2) former City of Toronto By-law No. 115-86, as amended by By-law No. 5-93 and By-law
No.1996-0040, which provided for the designation of private roadways as fire routes; and
(3)former City of Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 28-27, which provide for additional
duties of the City Solicitor, and Chapters 400-2, 400-8. 400-45 and 400-57, which either
provide for or relate to the designation of private roadways as fire routes and which codified
and replaced former City of Toronto By-law No. 115-86, as amended by By-law No. 5-93 and
By-law No. 1996-0040.
Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:
In the former City of Toronto the procedure for the designation of private roadways as fire
routes was set out in the former City's Traffic and Parking Code, which is Chapter 400 of its
Municipal Code. Specifically, Chapters 400-2, 400-8, 400-45 and 400-57 either provided for
or related to the designation of private roadways as fire routes. These provisions codified and
were intended to replace former City of Toronto By-law No. 115-86, as amended by No.
By-law 5-93 and By-law No.1996-0040.
In 1993, the former City of Toronto Council, by By-law No. 5-93, adopted a procedure to
streamline the designation of fire routes. It provided that, where the Fire Chief determines that
designation of a fire route is necessary for fire fighting purposes and the fire route application
complies with the criteria set out in the Code and the policies of Council, the Fire Chief will
instruct the City Solicitor to prepare a bill for Council amending the City's Fire Routes By-law
to so designate the route.
Complementing this procedure was Chapter 28-27-I of the former City's Municipal Code
which authorized the City Solicitor of the former City to process by-laws designating fire
routes in the former City on certification by the Fire Chief that the criteria set out in the
Traffic and Parking Code have been met. Chapter 28 was the procedural by-law of the former
City of Toronto.
As a result of the City of Toronto Act, 1997, every by-law or resolution of a former Council
that is in force immediately before January 1, 1998, is a by-law or resolution of the Council of
the new City of Toronto and remains in force in respect of the part of the urban area to which
it applied immediately before January 1, 1998, until the Council repeals it or amends it to
provide otherwise.
The Traffic and Parking Code was in force in the former Toronto immediately before January
1, 1998, and has not been repealed or amended to provide otherwise by the Council of the City
of Toronto. (This is also so in the case of the fire route designation by-laws of the other former
area municipalities.)
However, when Council adopted By-law No. 23-1998 on February 4, 1998, as its own
Procedural By-law, it expressly repealed the procedural by-law for the former Metropolitan
Toronto and for the individual former area municipalities. Therefore it repealed Chapter
28-27-I of the procedural by-law of the former City of Toronto.
So that the procedure for the streamlining of the process for the designation of fire routes in
the former City of Toronto is fully in place thus authorizing the City Solicitor to process fire
route by-laws in the same manner as before amalgamation, it is recommended that Chapter
28-27-I be re-enacted as part of the Traffic and Parking Code of the former City of Toronto.
There is a second matter that ought to be addressed at this time. Specifically, under the Traffic
and Parking Code an owner of a private roadway whose application for the designation of the
roadway as a fire route had been refused by the Fire Chief could appeal such refusal to the
City Services Committee of the former City of Toronto Council. It then made
recommendations to the former Council on whether to grant or refuse the application. In the
new City, Community Councils have the responsibility to hear public deputations and make
recommendations to Council on neighbourhood matters requiring a municipal by-law. Since
fire route designation is a neighbourhood matter and since a municipal by-law is required to
implement fire route designations, it is recommended that the Toronto Community Council be
designated the City committee to which appeals of refusals of fire route applications
pertaining to the urban area of the former City of Toronto are to be made.
We understand that there are two pending applications for fire route designations in the former
City of Toronto urban area. It is recommended that they and all future applications be
processed in accordance with the Traffic and Parking Code as revised pursuant to the
recommendations in this report until such time as a new City-wide fire route designation
by-law is adopted by Council. We understand that the procedure and policies forming the
basis for such a new by-law is currently being considered by the Fire Services Division. Since
there is not uniformity in the fire route designation by-laws of the former area municipalities
and there are more differences than similarities, the new by-law will require careful
consideration, and, therefore, we understand that it will not be forthcoming immediately.
Conclusions:
For the purpose of restoring fully the previous streamlined procedure for the processing of fire
route designation applications in the former City of Toronto, the Traffic and Parking Code of
the former City of Toronto Municipal Code should be amended to authorize the City Solicitor
to process by-laws designating fire routes in the former City of Toronto urban area on
certification by the Fire Chief that the criteria set out in the Code have been met. In addition,
for the purpose of making clear which Council committee has this responsibility, the Code
should be amended to designate the Toronto Community Council as the committee to which
an owner of a private roadway whose application for the designation of the roadway as a fire
route has been refused by the Fire Chief may appeal such refusal. Finally, any pending
applications for fire route designations in the former City of Toronto urban area should be
processed in accordance with the revised Traffic and Parking Code.
Contact Name:
Brian Loreto
392-8530
brian_loreto@mta1.metrodesk.metrotor.on.ca
