Item - 2019.NY10.2

North York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council adopt the Laird in Focus Draft Official Plan Amendment - Site and Area Specific Policy 568 attached as Attachment 2 to the report (October 18, 2019) from the Director, Community Planning, North York District, with the following amendments:

a. that Policy Section 2, Goals, be amended to include the following:

"vi. Protect Neighbourhoods from intensification pressures by targeting growth to the Mixed Use Areas.";

b. that the current Policy 8.2, Built Form, which states, "Development will fit its surroundings and limit its impacts with an appropriate transition in scale from higher building forms to adjacent lower scale areas by using appropriate setbacks, stepbacks, heights, angular planes, appropriate floor plate sizes and facade articulation.", be deleted and replaced with a new Policy 8.2, as follows:

"Development will fit its surroundings and limit its impacts with an appropriate transition in scale from higher building forms to adjacent lower scale areas, in particular, Neighbourhoods, by using appropriate setbacks, stepbacks, heights, angular planes, appropriate floor plate sizes and facade articulation.";

c. that Policy Section 12, Community Services and Facilities, be amended, to include the following:

"The City will monitor development applications in the Laird in Focus Area on an ongoing basis, taking into consideration the relevant service and facility plans of City divisions, public agencies, boards and commissions, including school capacity as part of ongoing conversations, to evaluate the evolving needs of the area's population and inform the delivery of new and enhanced community services and facilities."; and

d. that Policy 9.8 viii be deleted and replaced with the following:

"9.8 viii. Stand-alone townhouses shall not be permitted, with the exception of the area between Stickney Avenue to the north and Southvale Drive to the south."

2. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make such stylistic and technical changes to the Official Plan Amendment as may be required.

3. City Council adopt the Urban Design Guidelines attached as Attachment 3 to the report (October 18, 2019) from the Director, Community Planning, North York District.  

4. City Council direct staff to bring forward Zoning By-law amendments to Zoning By-law 569-2013 and the former Town of Leaside Zoning By-law No. 1916 in the fourth quarter of 2020 to implement the land uses and performance standards provided for by the Laird in Focus Draft Site and Area Specific Policy 568 (SASP 568) for Study Area B.

5. City Council withhold the Laird in Focus City Initiated Official Plan Amendment Bill until the RioCan Holdings Incorporated (RioCan) site specific development application appeals for the properties at 815-845 Eglinton Avenue East mediation is complete, (tentatively scheduled for November 18, 19 and 20, 2019), and direct staff to report further to City Council should the results of mediation require refinements to Site and Area Specific Policy 568 (SASP 568).

6. City Council direct the Director, Community Planning, North York District to report back on measures to protect existing neighbouring residential areas.

7. City Council request appropriate staff to implement a minimum five (5) metre soft landscaping buffer, where feasible, with landscaping enhancements along the along rear and side lands abutting designated Neighbourhoods, in particular large shade growing trees, evergreen trees, shrubs and other landscaping that would screen and buffer the Neighbourhoods.

8. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services, and Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to ensure that street design and traffic operational requirements are considered as part of the development review process to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety, including but not limited to the intersections of Don Avon Drive/Eglinton Avenue and Vanderhoof Avenue/Laird Drive, as envisioned in the Vision Zero Road Safety Plan and the Laird in Focus study.

9. City Council request the Director, Community Planning, North York District to prioritize the allocation of underground parking and, where appropriate, sideyard parking in the evaluation of new development proposals within the boundaries of the Laird in Focus draft Site and Area Specific Policy.

10. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with other relevant City divisions, to include preliminary comments on the potential impacts proposed development within the Site and Area Specific Policy (SASP) boundaries may have on the adjacent roadways, waste collection, and Neighbourhoods as part of Final Reports, and require the applicant to prepare a construction management plan to mitigate these impacts as part of the Site Protection or Street Occupancy permit approval process.

11. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with other relevant City divisions, to implement construction phasing to undertake all construction activities during the weekdays, where feasible.

North York Community Council held a statutory public meeting on November 5, 2019 and notice was given in accordance with the Planning Act.

In 2016, the City of Toronto launched the Laird in Focus Planning Study, a multi-disciplinary study that builds upon the Eglinton Connects Planning Study of 2014, and the potential to accommodate future residential, employment and mixed-use growth at Laird Drive and Eglinton Avenue East, and support transit investment in the future Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit (LRT).

In July 2018, City Council adopted the 'Laird in Focus Planning Study – Proposals Report' that summarized the outcome of the four phased Laird in Focus Planning Study which identified the vision, goals and principles for the area, and directed staff to bring forward a Site and Area Specific Policy (SASP 568) and supporting implementing strategies, and further community consultation.

This report recommends the approval of the proposed Official Plan Amendment in the form of a Site and Area Specific Policy (SASP 568).  The SASP outlines the vision for the Laird in Focus area as a complete mixed-use community that will integrate with the surrounding area, including the desired type and form of physical development, and community services and facilities required to support future growth.  The proposed SASP 568 envisions a mix of residential, commercial, and employment uses, an improved public realm with wider sidewalks and enhanced greening, a network of parks and open spaces, privately-owned, publicly accessible spaces, a public plaza and gateways for greater connectivity, pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, and new streets and lanes for existing and new residents and workers to experience in a vibrant setting.

This report presents the results of an extensive public consultation process on the proposed SASP 568 and responds to City Council directions from July 2018.