.jpg)
Over the past year my company has been on the roster for the City of Toronto’s Mediation Pilot Program. We attend selected meetings of the Committee of Adjustment and help neighbours work through their difficulties related to planning issues. I’ve become familiar with GFA (“gross floor area”) measurements, side-yard set-backs, and the profound love for and desire to protect trees shared by many of the city’s residents. The mediators in the program are always assigned to work with an independent planner. Leah Birnbaum, one of the planners on the roster, has written an article about her experiences with the program.
About the image: By Sebastiaan ter Burg from Utrecht, The Netherlands (Toronto sign) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons