Litter, dirt and unsanitary waste management conditions often mean that city laneways present an unappealing public face for local businesses. proper and regular maintenance of laneways is one of the most important components of transforming these spaces into vibrant places for the community.

 

ABOUT THE CLEAN LANEWAYS CHEATSHEET

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into even sharper focus than usual the need for high-quality pedestrian and cycle routes in our busy downtown and midtown neighbourhoods. Laneways have the capacity to provide supplementary pathways that ease the pressure on sidewalks, enabling people to visit Main Street retail areas while maintaining physical distancing. But our back alleys are usually treated as purely utilitarian spaces, for servicing and not for people.

To address this challenge, we worked with the College Promenade BIA to develop a Toronto-specific set of best practices based on a study of current City policies, established practices, and inspiring precedents from around the world. Our new Clean Laneways resource guide helps businesses take the first, crucial steps in transforming their secondary frontages into appealing extensions of and introductions to their interior space.

 
 
 

BEST PRACTICES for #cleanlaneways

While laneway rights-of-way are swept once annually by Transportation Services, maintenance of the laneway frontages of private properties is the responsibility of property owners (as is the case with street frontages).

Below are some key best practices that can help you to maintain a clean, inviting laneway frontage. By adopting new routines that work for your business and property, you can maintain a positive image for your business and increase the appeal of your neighbourhood to customers and clients. 

One: Reduce waste generation

  • Serve food in dishes rather than single-use containers for in-house (including patio) consumption

  • Work with your BIA to create a local food diversion and donation program to route stale-dated (but still good) food to local shelters or Second Harvest rather than to organics bins

  • Donate large, unwanted items that are used but serviceable such as furniture, racks and serveware to local charity shops for resale, or set them out for overnight salvage before waste collection day

two: Shield your waste

  • Install a waste storage enclosure in your laneway frontage area - secured, fenced, or fenced and roofed

three: Arrange timely pickup of large non-reusable waste items by a private waste management company

  • This applies even if, as a small business, you qualify for municipal pickup of smaller, everyday items

four: Coordinate procurement and scheduling of waste collection with your neighbours

  • Consider using the same private provider for coordinated and more frequent pickup - there may be opportunities for economies of scale

  • For food establishments - apply to have 7-day organics pickup by Solid Waste Management Services (per Toronto Municipal Code 841-4)

five: Signal ownership of your laneway frontage to deter littering and dumping, while providing a welcoming environment. Team up with your laneway neighbours for critical-mass impact.

  • Treat your laneway frontage as a public face of your business, just like your street frontage

  • Conduct a quick daily check and litter clean-up of your own laneway frontage area with a broom and a grabber

  • Install a small litter bin in your laneway frontage area (emptying this is easier than picking up scattered litter!)

  • Conduct weekly or biweekly weeding of your laneway frontage area during spring and summer

  • Consider spraying vinegar where you’ve pulled weeds to deter regrowth

  • Work with your BIA to hold regular laneway cleanups

  • Install downward-facing, shielded LED lighting on your building wall or fence

  • Consider using solar lighting - this is available from many commercial and landscape lighting suppliers

  • In the case of persistent unwanted dumping in your rear-lot space, consider also adding no-dumping signage and a security camera to identify culprits

  • Install and maintain plant pots and planters to demarcate and humanize the space 

    1. Refer to our How To Green Your Laneway Guide for tips

    2. Refer to the CanPlant list of native species to select your species

  • Install a mural on your rear wall 

    1. Refer to our How To Add a Laneway Mural Guide for tips

  • Add non-service use(s) to put “eyes on the street”

    1. Refer to two “cheat sheet” resources that The Laneway Project created for the Bloorcourt BIA: Private Outdoor Rear-Yard Patios and Private Outdoor Sales and Display Areas

six: Contact your Councillor (in coordination with your BIA) to advocate for the creation and enforcement of new municipal policies, practices and requirements regarding:

  • More frequent laneway right-of-way sweeping by Transportation Services

  • Waste storage standards for laneway frontages

  • The creation of block-scale shared waste storage areas as part of local high- and mid-rise developments 

  • The creation of local waste collection hubs (waste compactors, recycling and organics processing facilities) in areas with high food-services density to reduce individual on-site storage

 
 
 

This resource was made possible by the generous support of a City of Toronto BIA Innovation Grant, awarded to the College Promenade BIA.

 
 

BECOME A LANEWAY CHAMPION

The Laneway Project has developed over a dozen free-to-user public planning resources for use by grassroots-level community groups. Discover our resources and please consider donating to support the creation of more useful toolkits by becoming a Toronto Laneway Champion.