Item - 2020.PH19.2

The Planning and Housing Committee: 

1. Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to hold one public open house and consult with key stakeholder groups, including Metrolinx, Canadian Pacific and Canadian National Railways, throughout the winter of 2021 to obtain feedback on the Official Plan and the proposed approach for an amendment to Zoning By-law 569-2013 which are included as Attachments 2 and 3 to the report (November 24, 2020) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

2. Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to report back to Planning and Housing Committee with the results of the open house and stakeholder consultations and final recommended Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments in the spring of 2021.

This report proposes a draft amendment to the Official Plan and a proposed approach for an amendment to the City-wide Zoning By-law 569-2013 for public consultation in order to establish a city-wide approach to public safety for new development of sensitive or high occupancy land uses in proximity to rail infrastructure.

Rail infrastructure within the City of Toronto consists of more than 200 linear kilometres of rail corridors, spurs and yards. Railways in the City are owned and operated by Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, and Metrolinx (See Attachment 1), which are regulated by federal or provincial governments.

Interprovincial railways, and those that carry both passengers and goods, in Canada are Federally regulated, while light rail and public transportation systems, such as the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) lines and new Metrolinx light rail lines (Eglinton Cross Town and the proposed Ontario Line) run on a different gauge of rail, and fall under Provincial jurisdiction. Light rail and provincially regulated rail are not the subject of this report. The City has jurisdiction for regulating land uses, including on lands that are adjacent to rail infrastructure and has authority to require public safety and hazard condition mitigation measures through its land use planning instruments.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Railway Association of Canada Guidelines for New Development in Proximity to Railway Operations ("Guidelines") are meant to assist municipal governments and railways on matters related to land use decisions. (The Guidelines recommend a standard 30 metre setback from the property line of the rail property to the nearest sensitive or high occupancy use, and a 2.5 metre high earthen berm within the setback, to address accident and derailment risk mitigation). In recognition of smaller parcels that can be found in developed, urban settings in Canada's major cities, the Guidelines suggest that alternative mitigation measures may be considered if physical constraints of a proposed development site prevent the implementation of the recommended standard mitigation measures.

The City's current development review practice is to request a Rail Safety and Risk Mitigation study on a site by site basis in support of a development application. The draft Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments would establish a city-wide planning framework and provide clarity and certainty regarding requirements and expectations for applications in proximity to rail infrastructure.

The draft Official Plan Amendment would incorporate the requirement for applicants to submit a Rail Safety and Risk Mitigation Study as part of a complete application for development within 30 metres of rail infrastructure. The purpose of the study would be to identify how rail safety and risk mitigation measures would be addressed in the context of site specific conditions, and provide for the consideration of alternative or equivalent measures.

The proposed approach for the draft Zoning By-law Amendment outlined in this report would introduce a holding permission to limit (sensitive or high occupancy) land uses within 30 metres of rail infrastructure pending the completion of a Rail Safety and Risk Mitigation Study that satisfactorily demonstrates a set of rail safety and risk mitigation measures have been created for the site and supported through peer review. This holding permission would be applied only to those properties within 30 metres of a rail line and infrastructure and would apply to the as of right zoning in proximity to rail infrastructure across Toronto.

This report recommends that planning staff undertake public and stakeholder consultations on the proposed Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment approach. The results of the consultation along with final recommended amendments to the Official Plan and Zoning By-law 569-2013 are targeted to be brought to the Planning and Housing Committee in the spring of 2021.