Item - 2019.PH6.7

The Planning and Housing Committee recommends that:

1. City Council refuse the application to amend the Sign Bylaw to add an area-specific amendment to Schedule 'B' of Chapter 694, Signage Master Plans and Area-Specific Amendments, to replace the existing Sign Bylaw regulations concerning third party signs applicable to the premises municipally known as 923 Oxford Street with regulations to allow for, and regulate, a single third party electronic ground sign, as described in Attachment 1 of the report (May 10, 2019) from the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building.

The City received an application to amend the Sign Bylaw to enable 923 Oxford Street to contain a third party electronic ground sign with one sign face directed west.

The Sign Bylaw is a harmonized, City-wide set of regulations governing signs, adopted in 2010. Under the Sign Bylaw, City Council considers applications from the public where significant changes are requested. The Chief Building Official (CBO) brings forward all of the applications to amend the Sign Bylaw on an annual basis, so that City Council can consider the overall and cumulative impact of these applications on the City's built environment, and the Sign Bylaw itself.

This report is in response to an application for an amendment that would result in a third party electronic ground sign almost four metres higher and with a sign face area more than three times larger than permitted by the Sign Bylaw. The proposed sign would be approximately 31 metres from the Gardiner Expressway, whereas a setback of 400 metres is required. The proposed amendment would also result in a sign that does not comply with the 150-metre separation distance to other third party signs, or the 500-metre separation distance to other third party electronic signs.

A third party electronic ground sign is a permitted sign type at 923 Oxford Street. The proposed amendment seeks to modify the applicable sign permit term by extending the initial permit from five to ten years. The application also seeks to modify the illumination provisions so that the sign could be illuminated 24 hours per day. The Sign Bylaw requires that a sign in this location be shut off between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

Toronto Building, in consultation with Transportation Services, City Planning and Economic Development and Culture, conducted a thorough review of the application, and does not believe that the applicant's rationale is consistent with the objectives of the Sign Bylaw.

Toronto Building does not recommend approval of this amendment as the proposed sign is significantly larger (approximately three times larger) than what is permitted by the Sign Bylaw, and if approved, would contribute to sign clutter in the area along this portion of the Gardiner Expressway where large third party signs are not permitted. The Sign Bylaw also requires that third party signs not be located within 400 metres of the Gardiner Expressway, whereas a distance of 31 metres is being proposed.