Item - 2017.PG21.11

The Planning and Growth Management Committee recommends that:  

1.  City Council request the City Planning Division to undertake stakeholder and public consultation on the policy directions outlined in this report and summarized in Attachment 2 to the report (May 15, 2017) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to inform the development of the Secondary Plan for the ConsumersNext Planning Study Area;

2.  City Council request the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division to bring forward a draft Secondary Plan and supporting implementation strategies for the ConsumersNext Planning Study Area, based on the recommendations contained in Attachments 3, 4 and 5, to the report (May 15, 2017) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, informed by the consultations in Recommendation 1, by the first quarter of 2018;

3.  City Council direct that any Official Plan amendment and rezoning applications in the future Secondary Plan Area for ConsumersNext be considered and reviewed in the context of the Public Realm, Built Form, Transportation and Community Services and Facilities recommendations outlined in Attachment 3 to the report (May 15, 2017) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

4.  City Council request the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture in consultation with the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division to host a Business Forum with office tenants, landowners, business owners and other key stakeholders within the Consumers Road Business Park to consult on:

a.  the opportunity to establish a business association for the Consumers Road Business Park to advocate for business needs and co-ordinate issues on branding and transportation and create an identity for marketing and real estate purposes; and

b.  the potential for an incentive program for tenant improvements to Class "B" and "C" office buildings in the future Secondary Plan area.

5.  City Council request that the Toronto Catholic District School Board consult with the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, the Executive Director, Corporate Finance and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, on the practice of levying of Education Development Charges on non-residential development in advance of the school board's next update to its Education Development Charges By-law, 2013-No. 178, which expires in June 2018.

6.  City Council direct the appropriate City staff to submit the Transportation Master Plan included as Attachment 5 to the report (May 15, 2017) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and Infrastructure Master Plan to the appropriate Provincial Ministry for public review in accordance with the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment Process.

7.  City Council direct City Planning, Transportation Services and Engineering and Construction Services staff to ensure the proper co-ordination is undertaken to implement streetscape improvements developed through the ConsumersNext Planning Study through municipal capital works on public streets in the future Secondary Plan area.

The Consumers Road Business Park is home to over 18,000 workers and is the largest concentration of office employment in Toronto outside of the downtown core.  On the arterial fringes of the business park, development pressure has seen an emerging mixed use character along Sheppard Avenue East with 4,500 residential units and 55,000 square metres of non-residential floor area occupied, under construction, approved or under review.  In June 2015, the City of Toronto launched ConsumersNext - a multi-faceted, interdivisional study examining ways to manage anticipated growth while improving the Consumers Road Business Park and area around Sheppard and Victoria Park Avenues.

The first three phases of the ConsumersNext study are complete and addressed a number of city building issues through three component studies: a Planning Study which included Transportation and Servicing Master Plans, an Economic Potential Study, and the Community Services and Facilities Study.  Study analysis and stakeholder input led to a preferred development alternative envisioning a modern, vibrant business park that is an attractive transit oriented location for employment investment and well-connected to a walkable, mixed use community along Sheppard Avenue East and Victoria Park Avenue.  The preferred development alternative has the potential to accommodate an additional 13,500 jobs and 11,800 residents within the study area over the next 20 to 25 years. 

This Proposals Report recommends preparation of a Secondary Plan to achieve this vision for the area.  This report outlines policy directions based on the preferred development alternative framed by the three guiding principles - Define and Enhance Livability, Connect and Move, and Support and Promote Business.  Secondary Plan policies will seek to manage anticipated growth in employment and residential populations, identify improvements to benefit workers and residents, and support the long term of health of the business park. A summary of these policy directions can be found in Attachment 2.

It is critical that the business park remains successful for Toronto to maintain a diversity of employment uses in different locations across the city.  To that end, this report also recommends that the City host a second Business Forum with landowners, tenants and workers within the business park to advance two key recommendations of the Economic Potential Study.  The first is how to facilitate or incentivise building improvements to Class "B" and "C" office space to encourage growth in employment within the existing building stock in the near term.  The second initiative involves advancing the establishment of a business association within the business park to advocate on behalf of business interests, but also create collaboration between businesses on branding and transportation matters that are at issue for this important office cluster.

In the fourth and final phase of ConsumersNext, City Planning will prepare a Secondary Plan based on the outcomes of the Planning Study and further consultations with divisional partners and the public.  Early implementation measures are also identified in this report.  The policy directions for the study area contained in this report form a context for the review of development applications and should inform municipal capital projects within the future Secondary Plan area including road resurfacing and public realm upgrades.  Through the implementation of ConsumersNext, City staff will work collaboratively to advance these issues alongside the development of a Secondary Plan and key supporting documents.