As Premier Doug Ford’s government eyes a takeover of Billy Bishop Airport and expansion of the runway to eventually allow jets to operate from the island facility, a Toronto city councillor is pushing for a deeper dive into the impact of those changes.In a letter to the City’s Planning and Housing Committee, Toronto-St.Paul’s councillor Josh Matlow requested that City staff study “the prospective impact on future housing supply of expanding the flightpath at Billy Bishop Airport to accommodate jets.”Matlow contends that while many may see the airport expansion as an economic growth opportunity, it will also “permanently close the door” to other waterfront developments like new attractions and more critically he says, to new housing.As Toronto continues to grapple with a housing crisis, Matlow says the waterfront, including the Port Lands, is one of the areas in the city where there is room to grow and build more housing.“But jets will require a significant reduction in the height and density of new housing projects in those areas,” he says in the letter, adding that it could have a cascading impact on the affordable housing that could be required as part of those future developments.“I want to understand what the impact will be. If we need smaller buildings on the [waterfront], what will the ability be to actually create these affordable housing projects? How much housing supply will we actually have? What impact will that have on the services we would like to provide for that new neighbourhood? What impact will it have on the quality of life of those residents? What impact will it have on even the marketing of that neighbourhood if all of a sudden it’s like ‘welcome to the Port Lands, you’re going to have noisy planes going overhead and poor air quality,'” Matlow said to reporters at City Hall on Tuesday.“I wish that the Premier would have collected some basic facts – that if you do it, what will be the positive and negative repercussions – and then you make a reasonable decision based on the facts. I am asking our City staff to do the work that I wish the Premier would have.”Last month, the Ford government announced plans to introduce legislation to take over land from the City of Toronto to expand Billy Bishop Airport to allow jets to operate from it “in exchange for fair compensation.”The property on which the airport is located is currently governed by a tripartite agreement singed in 1983 between the Toronto Port Authority, The City of Toronto and the Government of Canada. The Port Authority owns a majority of the land – 78 per cent – while the City of Toronto owns 20 per cent and the federal government owns the remaining two per cent.If the legislation passes, the Province would take ownership of the city-owned land and take the City’s place in the tripartite agreement.In addition, the Province intends to declare the airport a Special Economic Zone, provisions for which were made in the controversial Bill 5 passed last year. This allows the Province to suspend provincial and municipal laws for a given project.“This would speed up the expansion of the airport by streamlining approvals, while maintaining robust safety and environmental protections,” a Ford government release stated in March.When speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Councillor Gord Perks also expressed frustration at what he considers Ford’s consistent meddling in Toronto’s affairs.“Let’s remember, this is a guy whose first idea was a ferris wheel, then he went to a casino, after that it was a spa, then it was a hotel convention centre and now it’s an airport … maybe we should buy him Sim City to go play with,” he said.“We have no idea what is actually being put in front of the City of Toronto. The only thing we know for sure is that he is trying to subvert the democratic rights of Torontonians to be part of the conversation.”Matlow feels that even if the City is excluded from decision making with regards to the airport and its possible expansion, city councillors have a duty to ensure that “everyone has all the information necessary to make this decision responsibly.”To that end he’s asking that city staff undertake the study on an urgent basis, because he says “Doug Ford has signalled an alarming urgency to make the decision to introduce jets at Billy Bishop.”