Item - 2013.NY27.28

City Council on November 13, 14, 15 and 18, 2013, adopted the following:

1.         City Council receive the report from the consultant for information only.

2    2.         City Council request the appropriate City Planning staff to consult with residents on an implementation plan for the Yonge Street North Study area, to create liveable communities in keeping with the vision enunciated by the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning in her "Feeling Congested" presentations, and that these consultations include, but not be limited to, a discussion of the following:

a.          reducing reliance on automobile use through such policies as: limiting higher densities to areas in close proximity to subway stations; requiring direct pedestrian connections to subway stations; reducing the parking supply in new buildings; requiring suitable locations for car sharing options in proportion to the parking supply reductions;

b.          encouraging cycling through development of a network of cycling paths separated from the street;

c.          providing attractive boulevards and other pedestrian networks;

d.          designating specific areas for the strategic acquisition of parkland;

e.          initiating conversations with representatives of the school boards to ensure that, as the new neighbourhoods develop within the Study Area, that there are opportunities for elementary-aged students to live within walking distance of schools;

f.           taking any other measures to provide that new development does not significantly increase traffic congestion in the general area, particularly near the Yonge/ Sheppard and bayview/ Sheppard intersections;

g.          providing policies so that higher densities attributable to proximity to subway stations can only be achieved after subway construction is underway;

h.          creating a neighbourhood-friendly physical environment which achieves desirable densities  through lower built forms;

i.           providing specific policies to designate appropriate levels of commercial development, including specific land use designations that cannot be changed except by Council; and

 j.          providing assurances that road capacity for any new development relies on available capacity on major arterial roads only and that, should new roads be required to increase capacity, that the development which relies on this capacity not proceed until such roads are built.

3.         City Council, as part of the community consultations, request the appropriate City Planning staff to provide historical data on the following:

a.          congestion (including service levels, queue lengths and duration of peak periods) at key intersections in or near the North York City Centre (Bayview/ Sheppard, Yonge/ Sheppard, Yonge/ Finch, Yonge/ Drewry/ Cummer and Yonge/ Steeles); and

b.          traffic volumes on the collector roads in the area (Church/ Churchill, Cummer/ Drewry, Empress/ Parkhome etc.) and that these data be used to develop specific policies to reduce congestion and avoid policies which would increase it.

4.         City Council request the Director, Community Planning, North York District, to prepare an option or options for consideration by the North York Community Council and the public consultation, of additional built forms in a more human scale and pedestrian friendly manner with minimal or no shadow impact on the neighbouring residential communities.  These built form options shall be low to mid-rise and shall:

-           have architectural articulation in the overall massing to create architectural interest;

-           minimize the shadow impact; and

-           respect the approved heights in the existing uptown plan.

5.         City Council, concurrent with the aforementioned discussions with residents but prior to finalizing the draft secondary plan, request the appropriate City Planning staff to bring forward results of the community consultation for consideration by North York Community Council.