Item - 2017.EX29.4

The Executive Committee:

1. Directed the Acting Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning in consultation with the General Manager, Parks Forestry and Recreation, to update the Alternative Parkland Dedication Rate for cash-in-lieu of parkland for Secondary Plan areas including, but not limited to the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan Area and the TOcore Downtown Plan Area having consideration for the approaches for the cash-in-lieu of parkland rate options presented in the report (November 20, 2017) from the Acting Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division and the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division.

2.  Directed the General Manager, Parks Forestry and Recreation to include the Alternative Parkland Dedication Rate cash-in-lieu options presented in this report in the Phase 2 analysis and implementation plan of the City-wide Parkland Strategy.

3.  Directed the Acting Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to use the findings of the Review of the City's Alternative Parkland Dedication Rate under Section 42 of the Planning Act, in the review of the Official Plan's Parks and Open Space policies.

4.  Directed the Acting Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the General Manager, Parks Forestry and Recreation, to conduct consultation with the development industry and other relevant stakeholders on the proposed options and report back to Planning and Growth Management Committee on the recommended City-wide official plan amendment.

The Deputy City Manager, Cluster B and the Acting Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning gave a presentation on Update on Rail Deck Park, Parkland Strategy and Section 42 Review.

The Executive Committee considered items EX29.2, EX29.3 and EX29.4 together.

As enabled by Section 42 of the Planning Act, Toronto’s planning tool for acquiring new parkland is through land dedications or cash-in-lieu of parkland as a condition of development or redevelopment.  In Parkland Acquisition Priority Areas, the City requires land dedications or cash-in-lieu payments based on the Alternative Parkland Dedication Rate (alternative rate). 

The alternative rate is over 10 years old and has not kept pace with development intensity.  Since the rate was approved by the Ontario Municipal Board in 2005, city-wide average residential densities have increased by 205 percent by project and the average units per hectare by project have increased by 254 percent.  This intensity generates increased parkland demand.  Parkland need has also changed as over 83% of growth across Toronto is in vertical communities. An  increasing number of parks users access parkland daily, as it serves as an extension of their outdoor living space,  including the use of this space by employees, farmers' markets, cultural festivals, dog walkers and others.  Growth is paying for a diminishing share of the cost to meet the need generated by higher density development. This report identifies the need to update the alternative rate. 

The existing alternative rate includes a series of site caps that stipulate a maximum land dedication or payment of cash-in-lieu based on site size.  Over 90 percent of development across the city's Centres is on sites which limits the parkland requirement maximum to10 percent of the site or equivalent value. 

Many of Toronto's high growth areas are characterized by a small parcel fabric less than 0.5ha (1.2 acres) reflective of infill development.  On smaller sites, the City often accepts cash-in-lieu of parkland rather than a land dedication.  The challenge that exists is that in the city's Centres and high growth areas cash-in-lieu contributions commonly hit the 10 percent value cap at densities that  represent a fraction of what development is proposing, thus significantly reducing the City's ability to acquire land for parks.  The current cash-in-lieu rate also does not match parkland demand that is generated by development as it is calculated only on a percentage of the site value and not density.

A new alternative rate policy that increases cash-in-lieu payments on new growth to better reflect the intensity of development and increase in demand for parks can benefit all areas of the city.  Funds secured through Section 42 are used to deliver local and city-wide parks and parks development, enabling the City to achieve its broader parks objectives.

This report, prepared in consultation with Parks, Forestry and Recreation sets out the analysis to support an update to the cash-in-lieu component of the alternative rate in order to be responsive to the realities of the land market and intensity of development in Toronto.  Staff initiated a review of the alternative rate to assess the efficacy of the current rate and also to determine the thresholds for change when impacts on development feasibility and housing affordability are considered. 

Staff recommend that the rate options presented in this report and its appendices inform the City-wide Parkland Strategy and form the basis for a review of the City's policies and alternative rate in the Official Plan.  Furthermore, staff recommend this report inform area-specific alternative rates for the Parks Plans nearing completion in the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan Area and in the TOcore Downtown Plan area.  The Port Lands Planning framework has incorporated a version of one of the rate options which has been tailored to reflect the specific development profile of that area.