Item - 2018.TE34.32

The Toronto and East York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council direct City Staff to continue to review the application and resolve any outstanding issues detailed in the report (June 18, 2018) from the Acting Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District, and any other issues that may arise through the continuing review of the application.

2. City Council direct the City Solicitor and appropriate City Staff to attend and oppose the application in its current form, should the application be appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (the "LPAT") on the basis of Council's failure to make a decision on the application within the statutory timeframe of the Planning Act.

This report responds to an application where staff are currently not in a position to provide a Final Report to Council, but which could be appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal due to a lack of decision during the break in Council's meeting schedule (July to December 2018).

The report sets out issues identified through the preliminary review of the application and makes an initial determination as to whether or not the application is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (2014), conforms with the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2017) and conforms with the City's Official Plan.

This application proposes a 12 and 13-storey (49 metres excluding mechanical penthouse) mixed-use building including residential, office and retail uses at 540-544 King Street West and 1-7 Morrison Street.  The site is located within the King-Spadina Heritage Conservation District and includes the listed heritage property at 544 King Street West that contains a 2-storey commercial building constructed in 1925. The application proposes to demolish this building. The proposed development includes 77 dwelling units, 15,483 square metres of office space and 3,205 square metres of retail space. The total gross floor area of the proposed development is 27,625 square metres representing a density of 9.45 times the area of the site

In its current form, the proposed development is not consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (2014), does not conform with the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2017) and does not conform with the policies of the Official Plan. In addition to the proposed demolition of a heritage resources, the proposal also does not fit harmoniously into its existing and/or planned context contrary to the Official Plan and King-Spadina Secondary Plan.

Issues identified through the review of the application to date, as outlined in this report, include:

- Consistency with the Provincial Policy Statement and conformity to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe;

- Conformity with Official Plan and King-Spadina Secondary Plan policies, including the requirement that development result in a height, built form and massing that is complementary to the historic physical fabric of the area and the more mid-rise character of the West Precinct;

- Consistency with the emerging policies and directions of the King-Spadina Secondary Plan Review and the TOcore initiative;

- Consideration of the King-Spadina Heritage Conservation District and heritage policies of the Official Plan.  The proposal would not maintain the existing heritage building on the site, which is listed in the City's Heritage Register and has been identified as a contributing property in the King-Spadina Heritage Conservation District Plan.  On-site conservation of heritage resources will be sought and the conservation strategy should look to sympathetically conserve the heritage building;

- Whether the proposed height and massing are appropriate;

- Determination of appropriate relationships to the adjacent properties, including side yard setbacks and the impact to the heritage property;

- Securing an appropriate parkland dedication including potential on-site parkland;

Adequacy of the proposed amenity space;
Evaluation of the shadow impacts created by the proposal on the surrounding area;

 
Evaluation of the impacts of the proposed development on the Brant Street School in relation to shadowing of the school building and site,  proposed development configuration and site circulation, proposed traffic management and construction management;

- Appropriate streetscape treatments and design resulting from changes to the proposal to address heritage conservation, and appropriate setbacks and stepbacks, including design considerations in relation to the narrow right-of-way of Morrison Street, and existing and proposed transportation matters impacting the street;

- Addressing outstanding requirements in relation to water, sanitary and storm sewer servicing for the proposed development identified in the Memorandum from the Engineering and Construction Services, dated April 25, 2018, and other servicing issues that may be identified through the continuing review of the application;

- Evaluation of tree protection and injury mitigation measures as a result of the proposal and opportunities for new tree planting; and

- Securing appropriate Section 37 contributions should the project proceed to approval.