Item - 2019.PH7.10

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Directed City Planning staff to hold a statutory public open house to present the proposed Official Plan Amendments containing Public Realm and Built Form policies, and the proposed Terms of Reference for the Block Context Plan complete application requirement, appended to this report in Attachments 1, 2 and 5 respectively to the report (June 11, 2019) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

2. Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to prepare a Final Recommendation Report with Official Plan Amendments containing revised policies for the Public Realm and Built Form sections of the Official Plan and a Terms of Reference for the Block Context Plan complete application requirement to the Planning and Housing Committee in third quarter of 2019 for a special meeting in fulfilment of Section 26 of the Planning Act.

This report presents proposed changes to Section 3.1.3, Public Realm, Section 3.1.2, Built Form and Section 3.1.3, Built Form - Tall Buildings, of the Official Plan following public and stakeholder consultation conducted as part of the Five Year Review of the Official Plan.

The proposed policy changes are intended to strengthen the existing policies and provide greater clarity through new policies that describe the public realm, built form and built form types. The policies reflect the continuous evolution of the application of urban design to achieve critical city-building objectives, defining the roles and relationships of the public realm and new development to ensure that buildings and their surrounding public spaces work together to achieve a high standard of design and help create a high quality of life for people of all ages and abilities.

Proposed Official Plan Amendments for the Public Realm and Built Form sections of the Official Plan are appended as Attachments 1 and 2 to this report, respectively. Attachments 3 and 4 show how the proposed amendments would be incorporated into Sections 3.1.1, 3.1.2 and 3.1.3 of the Official Plan. A proposed terms of reference for a Block Context Plan complete application requirement forms Attachment 5 to this report.

The proposed policies have been revised to respond to stakeholder and public feedback received through citywide consultation that took place from November 2018 to February 2019. A summary of the stakeholder and public consultation forms Attachment 6 to this report and is discussed below.

The proposed policy changes respond to Council's direction to update the policies in order to respond to the following adopted urban design directions:

-  promoting a walkable city;
-  clarifying the role of the public realm and the need for new public streets;
-  introducing development criteria for low-rise, mid-rise and tall buildings; and
-  promoting public squares and Privately Owned Publicly-Accessible Spaces.

The proposed policies are also intended to address the recently released A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2019), which includes new and revised policies and definitions for Complete Communities, Complete Streets, the Public Realm and Compact Built Form that emphasize a high-quality, vibrant public realm, the efficient use of land, the integration of green infrastructure, social equity and quality of life, and a well-connected network of walkable neighbourhoods and destinations that encourage active transportation.