Item - 2016.PG15.2

The Planning and Growth Management Committee recommends that:

1. City Council express support to the Minister of Municipal Affairs on the general direction taken with regard to the proposed Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and the proposed Greenbelt Plan.

2. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs to revise the proposed Growth Plan as follows:

a. revise the definition of “Complete Communities” to include references to affordable housing, parks and open space and other matters, as shown in italicized text:

"Complete Communities - Places such as mixed-use neighbourhoods or other areas within cities, towns and settlement areas that offer and support opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to conveniently access most of the necessities for daily living including an appropriate mix of jobs, local stores and services, a full range of housing, including affordable housing, and public service facilities and parks and open space for their residents. Complete communities are well-designed, encourage the use of active transportation and support overall quality of life, human health and climate change mitigation. Complete communities may take different shapes and forms appropriate to their contexts.";

b. add a new definition of “Complete Streets” to clarify the use of this terminology in the Growth Plan as shown in italicized text:

“Complete Streets - Streets that support and enhance local neighbourhood context and character, incorporate green infrastructure and safely accommodate all transportation users - pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders and motorists of all ages and abilities.”;

c. add the term “Public Service Facilities” to the Section 3 heading title for the infrastructure policies to provide consistency with the PPS 2014 as shown in italicized text: "Public Service Facilities and Infrastructure to Support Growth";

d. revise Policy 2.2.4 Transit Corridors and Station Areas to:

i. allow municipalities to identify in Policy 2.2.4.5 which major transit station areas will be planned at higher densities as shown in italicized text: "Policy 2.2.4.5 - Municipalities will identify in official plans which major transit station areas will be planned to achieve, by 2041, or earlier, a minimum gross density target of …";

ii. indicate as part of Policy 2.2.4.5 that the major transit station area minimum gross density targets are only to be considered in relation to the underlying land use designations of official plans;

iii. revise Policy 2.2.4.10 to ensure that municipalities are consulted by the Province, prior to the Province choosing to identify additional priority transit corridors or mobility hubs, as shown in italicized text: "Policy 2.2.4.10 – The Province may, in prior consultation with municipalities, identify additional priority transit corridors or mobility hubs and planning requirements for priority transit corridors or mobility hubs, to support the optimization of transit investments across the GGH…";

e. revise Policy 2.2.4.6 to include all “employment areas” (and not just "prime employment areas") as not being subject to Policy 2.2.4.5, if the minimum density targets, as currently described in Policy 2.2.4.5, remain;

f. revise the definition of “Prime Employment Areas” and all affected and related policies to allow for office use;

g. allow office uses in all employment areas by revising the definition of “Office Parks" to be a designated “Employment Area” and/or “Prime Employment Area” use in an official plan;

h. revise the definition of “Major Office” to include major office development (4,000 square meters of non-residential floor space or more) that forms part of, or is attached to a mixed-use commercial-residential development;)

i. add places of worship to the definition of “Sensitive Land Uses” and prohibit places of worship as a sensitive use in both “prime employment” and “employment areas”;

j. introduce policies that underscore the important role urban design plays in the creation of compact complete communities through encouraging a sense of place, by promoting well-designed built form, streetscape and cultural planning, providing adequately sized parks and open spaces to support intensification, and by conserving features that help define character, including built heritage resources and cultural heritage landscapes;

k. introduce a vision statement or policies that underscore the importance of liveable conditions of intensification, necessary to continue to attract and support people and result in liveable patterns of development such as adequate sunlight, open space and adequate separation distances between buildings;

l. revise the definition of "Public Realm" as shown italicized text:

"Public Realm - All spaces to which the public has unrestricted access, such as streets, parks, public squares, and sidewalks, and other elements of the public streetscape network that encourages both mobility and social interaction.";

m. revise the definition of “Compact Built Form” as shown in italicized text:

"Compact Built Form - A land use pattern that encourages the efficient use of land, walkable neighbourhoods (with well-designed streets, parks, walkways and publicly-accessible open spaces having access to sunlight to support healthy vegetation and human comfort), mixed land uses (residential, retail, workplace and institutional) all within one neighbourhood, proximity to transit, parks and public service facilities and reduced need for infrastructure. Compact built form can include detached and semi-detached houses on small lots as well as townhouses and walk-up apartments, multi-storey commercial developments, and apartments or offices above retail. Walkable neighbourhoods can be characterized by roads streets laid out in a fine-grained, well-connected network, destinations that are easily accessible by active transportation, sidewalks with minimal interruptions for vehicle access, and a pedestrian friendly environment along and between roads streets to encourage active transportation";

n. revise the wording of Policy 2.2.4.5 c), shown in italicized text, to provide direction that urban form supports the quality of life for people of all ages and abilities: "2.2.2.5 - In planning for the intensification of built-up areas, municipalities will:

c. ensure the development of high quality urban form and public open spaces, which support overall quality of life, including human health, for people of all ages and abilities";

o. revise the wording of Policy 2.2.1.3 g) shown in italicized text to include terminology that has not been included in the concept of what creates complete communities: "2.2.1.3 - Applying the policies of this Plan will support the achievement of complete communities that:

g. have high quality built form, landscapes and publicly-accessible open spaces that are safe and accessible with site design standards that create an attractive, comfortable and vibrant public realm.";

p. add “High Quality Built Form” as a new defined term, shown as italicized text below, to recognize that urban built form is not solely about the aesthetics of places but that it also allows for better interactions between people and between people and their surroundings:

"High Quality Urban Form - A scale and pattern of buildings, streets, parks and open space which is compact, integrated, contextually appropriate and well - designed to support active transportation, pedestrian safety, comfort and amenity and which promotes human and environmental health and sustains a high quality of life.";

q. strengthen how the proposed Growth Plan addresses cumulative negative impacts to water quality and quantity in downstream municipalities by:

i. revising the definition of “Watershed Planning” to explicitly include the consideration of downstream impacts to water quality and quantity as part of watershed planning in order to ensure that development in upstream municipalities doesn't worsen flooding and water quality in downstream municipalities; and

ii. revising Policy 3.2.7.1 b) to include an assessment of the cumulative downstream impacts of storm water from existing and planned development shown in italicized text as follows: "Policy 3.2.7.1 b) - Examine the cumulative environmental impacts of stormwater from existing and planned development, including an assessment of cumulative downstream impacts of stormwater from development, if any, and how extreme weather events will exacerbate these impacts.";

r. add a new section called “Biodiversity” to Chapter 4 “Policies for Protecting What is Valuable” and include policies to encourage municipalities to consider urban biodiversity in their decision making and to develop official plan policies and strategies to address the impacts of the built environment on wildlife, such as migratory birds;

s. add a new section to Chapter 4 "Policies for Protecting What is Valuable" Policy 4.2 called “Urban River Valleys” and include policies to require municipalities within settlement areas to protect, restore and enhance all urban river valleys (not just those that connect to the Greenbelt) and to minimize the adverse impact of activities and land use change on lands adjacent to urban river valleys; and

t. revise Policy 4.2.10. 2 a) to add “green infrastructure and low impact development” to the strategies municipalities should be encouraged to develop to improve resilience to climate change, as shown in italicized text: “develop strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve resilience to climate change through land use planning, planning for infrastructure, including transit and energy, and green infrastructure and low impact development, and the conservation objectives in Policy 4.2.9.1”.

u.  provide municipalities with a stronger voice in managing urban growth centre density targets that exceed provincially mandated minimums, by deleting Policy 2.2.3.4 of the proposed Growth Plan and replacing it with the following two new policies:    

i.  "4. If an urban growth centre is planned to achieve by 2031 or has already achieved a gross density target that meets or exceeds the minimum density targets in Policy 2.2.3.3, then additional intensification will only be considered after the municipality has undertaken a new municipally-initiated official plan review that sets a planning framework for the area and official plan policies to address the impact of additional intensification on matters relating to: the capacity, provision and integration of infrastructure and public service facilities to support community growth; the reinforcement of local communities; contextually appropriate and high quality built form; availability of local parks and open space; and a range of employment opportunities and housing; and in so doing, the new minimum density target that is set, if any, will be considered the new minimum density target for the Urban Growth Centre."

ii.  "5. While addressing Policy 2.2.3.4, municipalities may identify interim planning tools to restrict privately-initiated development in affected Urban Growth Centre areas until such time as the municipality has completed its official plan review and sufficient infrastructure capacity is, or will be, in place to accommodate the projected additional intensification."

3.  City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs to revise the proposed Greenbelt Plan as follows:

a. use a systems approach to recognize and protect urban river valleys that is consistent with the approach advocated by both the Greenbelt Plan 2005 and the PPS 2014, which recognizes the connectivity of natural features and applies to both public and private land;

b. continue to recognize “river valley connections” as contiguous features, as they are currently recognized in the 2005 Greenbelt Plan schedules and policies; and

c. add a new policy to Policy 3.2.6 “External Connections” to require municipalities to identify “river valley connections” in their official plans and to work together with the Province, Conservation Authorities, private landowners, First Nations, and other institutions and organizations to recognize the important functions river valley connections provide through public information, awareness and stewardship programs and partnerships.

4.  City Council request clarification from the Minister of Municipal Affairs as to the origin of the gross density targets identified in the proposed Growth Plan Policy 2.2.4.5 for “major transit station areas”.

5.  City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs to develop technical guidelines to provide a consistent methodology and reporting structure to measure greenhouse gas emissions and a consistent format for climate change vulnerability risk assessments to assist in the implementation of proposed Growth Plan policies on climate change and integrated planning.

6.  City Council advise the Minister of Municipal Affairs that any direction in the proposed Growth Plan to provide detailed mapping of all major planned and existing transportation corridors, intermodal hubs and major ports, all major planned and existing transit corridors and any detailed pre-determination of which adjacent lands require official plan protection around these corridors, is not appropriate within the context of the role of an official plan.

7.  City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs to issue a Provincial Regulation for “zoning with conditions” which permits a municipality to prescribe the provision of employment space as a condition for the construction of housing in certain locations of the municipality, such as in “urban growth centres” or along "priority transit corridors".

8.  City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs to work towards aligning the “Big Move” and the “Provincial Mobility Hub Guidelines” with the proposed Growth Plan’s “Major Transit Station Areas” and other transit related policies, in order to achieve clarity with regard to the application of transit policies for the GTA region.

9.  City Council advise the Minister of Municipal Affairs that guidance will be required from the Province if municipalities are to develop and implement transportation demand management policies including locally appropriate modal share targets.

10.  City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs to "advance growth planning and support the development of complete communities in Ontario" by providing for more substantial and ongoing levels of funding for municipalities to accelerate the achievement of this Provincial goal.

11.  City Council advise the Minister of Municipal Affairs that to be consistent with the essential requirement for local context in reporting proposed Growth Plan measures of local performance, the Province identify the types of data to be collected; consult with municipalities; publish guidelines for reporting out on its established indicators and provide the appropriate level of funding needed to undertake the work at the municipal level.

12.  City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs to broaden the removal provisions in the Planning Act of the right to appeal not just population targets and boundaries but any official plan amendments specifically intended to bring municipal official plans into conformity with Provincial Policy and Plans, for which the Province has issued a decision of approval.

13.  City Council request the Province to amend the Planning Act to restrict appeals of a refusal by Council, or failure to adopt by Council, of privately initiated official plan amendments relating to those Urban Growth Centres that are planned to achieve by 2031, or have already achieved a gross density that exceeds the minimum density targets set in Policy 2.2.3.3 of the proposed Growth Plan, until such time as the municipality has completed its official plan and infrastructure capacity review to determine the impacts, if any, of permitting additional intensification in these areas.

14.  City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs to meet with the Chief Planner and Executive Director City Planning, the Deputy City Manager, Cluster B and the Chair of the Planning and Growth Management Committee to continue a dialogue with the Minister on the proposed Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and any proposed Growth Plan policies which impact the City of Toronto.

15.  City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs to explain the reason for not including office use as a permitted use in the proposed Growth Plan's "prime employment area" policies.

16.  City Council forward the report (September 27, 2016) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to the Minister of Municipal Affairs to post on the Provincial Environmental Bill of Rights Registry (EBR).

On May 10, 2016, the Province of Ontario released Provincial Plan amendments to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe; the Greenbelt Plan; the Niagara Escarpment Plan and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan. The Province set October 31, 2016 as the commenting deadline with regard to these amendments.

The report gives an overview of the amendments for the two Plans that apply to Toronto; the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and the Greenbelt Plan. It also provides staff comments and recommendations for better aligning the proposed Plan amendments with the City's planning policies and implementation practices.