Item - 2020.EY16.3

Etobicoke York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council direct the City Solicitor, together with appropriate staff, to attend the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal hearing to oppose the appeal respecting the Zoning By-law Amendment application (File No. 18 208427 WET 11 OZ), as proposed at 2650-2672 St. Clair Avenue West.

2. City Council direct that the City Solicitor co-ordinate with the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning regarding instructions and attendance at the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal hearing respecting the associated Draft Plan of Subdivision application (File No. 18 208431 WET 11 SB) at 2650-2672 St. Clair Avenue West, as generally illustrated in Attachment 7 to the report (June 24, 2020) from the Director, Community Planning, Etobicoke York District.

3. City Council authorize the City Solicitor, together with appropriate staff, to continue discussions with the applicant, including engaging in formal mediation, in an effort to resolve the outstanding matters identified in the report (June 24, 2020) from the Director, Community Planning, Etobicoke York District, and the applicant's appeal, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor, in consultation with the Ward Councillor. City Council further authorizes the City Solicitor to report back to City Council for direction regarding the outcome of such discussions as appropriate.

4. In the event that the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal allows the appeal in whole or in part, City Council authorize the City Solicitor to request the LPAT to withhold the issuance of any Order(s) until such time as the LPAT has been advised by the City Solicitor that:

a. The final form and content of the Zoning By-law Amendment is to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor;

b. The owner has entered into an Agreement under Section 37 of the Planning Act with the City for the purpose of securing community benefits to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor in consultation with the Chief Planner and executive Director, City Planning and the Ward Councillor;

c. The owner has provided a revised Functional Servicing Report satisfactory to the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services, including identifying any required improvements and/or upgrades to municipal infrastructure;

d. The owner has provided a revised Transportation Impact Study, satisfactory to the General Manager of Transportation Services, including securing any identified and/or required improvements and/or upgrades to municipal infrastructure and the provision of any financial securities; and

e. The Conditions of Draft Plan Approval respecting the proposed Draft Plan of Subdivision are in a form and content acceptable to the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, prepared in consultation with the City Solicitor and appropriate City Divisions.

The owner of 2650-2672 St. Clair Avenue West has appealed its Zoning By-law Amendment and Draft Plan of Subdivision applications for the site to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) citing City Council's failure to make a decision on the applications within the time prescribed by the Planning Act. A Pre-Hearing Conference of the LPAT has not been scheduled.

These applications propose to amend the former City of York Zoning By-law No. 1-83 and City-wide Zoning By-law No. 569-2013 and seek Draft Plan of Subdivision approval to redevelop the site of the former Danier Leather factory, municipally known as 2650-2672 St. Clair Avenue West. The proposed development is for a new residential neighbourhood at the rear of the site, while renovating the existing building at the front of the site for employment uses.

The proposed residential neighbourhood would be comprised of townhouses, below grade parking, public and private roads and publicly accessible open spaces (see Attachment 6: Site Plan and Attachment 7: Draft Plan of Subdivision).

The townhouses would be in five blocks (Blocks A to E), having a total of 98 three-bedroom units. Each block is proposed to be 4-storeys (12.75 metres in height) with an additional pop-up access to rooftop private amenity space (14.71 metres in height). The total residential floor area of the proposal would be 14,334 m2 .

The existing 2-storey building that fronts St. Clair Avenue West is currently under renovation and would be used for commercial and office uses. This building has a gross floor area of 6,500 m2.

A total of 388 parking spaces are proposed to serve the development, with 225 parking spaces for the residential component and 163 parking spaces for the non-residential component. Each of the townhouses would have two parking spaces (a total of 196 spaces) and 29 residential visitor parking spaces are proposed.

The Draft Plan of Subdivision application proposes to establish a new public road to the west of the existing commercial building extending from St. Clair Avenue West to the existing public lane to the north and creating two development blocks. Block 1 would be located to the east of the proposed public road and would contain both the residential and commercial developments. Block 2 would be located to the west of the public road and would contain a surface parking lot.

The Provincial Policy Statement (PPS 2020) provides policy direction on matters of provincial interest related to land use planning and development. Key objectives include: building strong communities; wise use and management of resources; and protecting public health and safety.

The Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe provides a framework for managing growth in the Greater Golden Horseshoe including: directions for where and how to grow; the provision of infrastructure to support growth; and protecting natural systems and cultivating a culture of conservation. City Council's planning decisions are required to conform, or not conflict, with the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The policies contained in the Growth Plan are to be read in conjunction with all applicable provisions of the PPS.

Both these documents are high-level and broad reaching. The City is a development area and infill is encouraged under these policies. Policy 4.6 of the PPS states that the most important method of implementing the policies is a municipality's Official Plan which guides the method of intensification and where it should be focused. While the proposed development would achieve the goals of residential intensification and the provision of employment uses, the development in its current form fails to conform to the Built Form policies of the City of Toronto Official Plan and therefore is not consistent with the PPS.

Planning staff do not support the proposal in its current form, as it does not conform to the policies of the Official Plan and does not satisfactorily respond to applicable design guidelines. The proposed development does not fit within its existing and planned context and fails to respect and reinforce the existing physical character of the area, in particular its building heights, scale and site layout. The proposed public and private road network does not meet City design objectives (width of sidewalks, amount of streetscaping and tree planting) nor does it adequately provide appropriate frontage for the proposed building entrances or permeability of and mobility throughout the site. The development, as proposed, does not satisfy all fire protection requirements and therefore, from a health and safety perspective is not acceptable. Lastly, the proposal fails to conform to the recently approved Site and Area Specific Policy No. 540 in terms of building heights, building separation and the provision of a centrally located green space.

Staff are of the opinion the current proposal constitutes an over-development of the site. However, a development which provides an appropriate road network and open spaces (private and public) and has building heights and setbacks respecting the context of the block and surrounding neighbourhood could be considered for this site.

This report recommends that the City Solicitor, together with appropriate staff, be directed to attend the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal hearing to oppose the appeal respecting the Zoning By-law Amendment application (File No. 18 208427 WET 11 OZ) and to co-ordinate with the Chief Planner in connection with the associated appeal of the Draft Plan of Subdivision application (File No.18 208431 WET 11 SB), as proposed at 2650-2672 St. Clair Avenue West.

Planning staff have undertaken discussions with the applicant regarding revising the proposal to develop a proposal that is more appropriate to its context. While unsuccessful to date, staff are recommending that discussions continue with the applicant on resolving the matters identified in this report.