Item - 2021.IE22.5

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council request the General Manager, Parks Forestry and Recreation, to work with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority to establish a Tommy Thompson Park Joint Management Committee in 2021, and to include representation from CreateTO, PortsToronto and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, for the purpose of integrated management of the three existing property components that comprise the Leslie Street Spit, and will be collectively known as the future Tommy Thompson Park, composed of:

a. Tommy Thompson Park: currently owned by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and managed in partnership with the Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division;
 

b. lands referred to as the "Outer Harbour East Headland and Endikement" currently owned by Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and managed by PortsToronto; and
 

c. lands referred to as the "Baselands", currently owned by CreateTO, the City and PortsToronto.
 

2. City Council direct the Staff-level Tommy Thompson Park Joint Management Committee in Part 1 above, to prepare a three-year work program that will address the following matters:

a. develop a coordinated and comprehensive approach to the operations, and maintenance and visitor experience across the lands;

b. create a visitor experience plan that strikes the balance between public access and ecological integrity;

c. undertake a community and stakeholder consultation process, including engaging with the broader Indigenous communities, to inform the visitor experience plan; and

d. develop coordinated policy and enforcement approaches related to filming, dogs, trail conflicts, and similar issues.

3. City Council request the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, in co-ordination with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and CreateTO, to report back to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee, prior to the incorporation of the lands currently owned by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and managed by PortsToronto, and including the integration of the Baselands and the new Ashbridges Bay Landform into Tommy Thompson Park, with recommendations related to the long-term governance and management of Tommy Thompson Park.

4. City Council request the General Manager, Parks Forestry and Recreation, and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, to develop a budget request for the management of Tommy Thompson Park and implementation of the recommendations above, to be submitted through the 2022-2031 Capital and Operating Budget process.

A Project Officer, Capital Planning, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, gave a presentation on the Tommy Thompson Park Update.

Tommy Thompson Park (the Park) is the largest component of the broader Leslie Street Spit (the Spit), located at the base of Leslie Street where it meets the shore of Lake Ontario; all components of the Spit will ultimately be consolidated as Tommy Thompson Park (see Attachment 1). The Park is designated in the Official Plan as an Environmentally Significant Area and is recognized internationally as a Canadian Important Bird Area for supporting the conservation of birds and their habitat. The Park is owned by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and managed in partnership between Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the City of Toronto. The Park demonstrates that nature can flourish in cities and contribute to the well-being of city residents; only minutes from downtown, the Park is an escape from the city, and a place to marvel at the force of nature. It is a pet-free urban wilderness that exists as the result of decades of careful management and stewardship of natural succession and habitat restoration processes by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority with the support of the City, community groups, and other partners. Its significant and diverse aquatic and terrestrial environments provide habitat for at-risk species who are otherwise challenged by the interrelated impacts of habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, urbanization and climate change.

The Park's evolution into an urban wilderness can also be attributed to the work of advocacy groups like the Friends of the Spit, founded in 1977 by naturalists advocating for the Spit to grow naturally, without development and the privatization of uses. Their determination and persistence resulted in the selection of the natural area option as the basis for the approved Tommy Thompson Park Master Plan. Friends of the Spit, along with the previous Toronto and Region Conservation Authority established Natural Area Advisory Committee (1987-1992), Tommy Thompson Park Advisory Committee (2002-2011) and Tommy Thompson Park User Group (2011-2020), continue to be important advocates for the Spit and the Park.

The Park has grown in popularity as it has matured into a natural landscape, attracting residents and tourists wanting to share in the unique experience of visiting an Ontario wilderness within sight of the downtown skyline. As the city continues to grow and intensify, and as precincts of the Port Lands are revitalized as new mixed-use communities as per the Port Lands Planning Framework, the Park will play an increasingly important role as a space for passive and active recreational uses. However, in order to maintain the Park's ecological integrity, which is what attracts many visitors in the first place, the Park's role as both a unique wilderness and a signature waterfront park must be balanced. Ensuring this balance is a core objective of the City, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, and advocacy groups. Together, the City, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, and other stakeholders all have a role to play in ensuring that the Park continues to be a place not only for native flora and fauna to call home, but for the thousands of residents and visitors to use as their escape to nature within the city; estimates of annual visitors to the Park are currently 250,000-300,000 people per year. Toronto and Region Conservation Authority have also offered Community Learning and Education programs at the Park with an emphasis on program growth in recent years. Between 2016 and 2019, over 20,000 participants were engaged through on-site programming. 

The purpose of this report is to recommend the establishment of a Joint Management Committee for the management of Tommy Thompson Park and the rest of the Leslie Street Spit: the "Outer Harbour East Headland and Endikement" component that is currently owned by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and managed by PortsToronto; as well as the "Baselands" component that is owned and managed by CreateTO, the City and PortsToronto, as shown in Attachment 1. The proposed Committee will include management-level staff, be co-chaired by Parks, Forestry and Recreation and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, and will include representatives of PortsToronto, CreateTO, and Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. The Committee will ensure that there is a coordinated and comprehensive approach to operations, maintenance, by-law enforcement, and visitor experience across the Park and the rest of the Leslie Street Spit. The Joint Management Committee will also be responsible for coordinating the process of consolidating the three components of the Spit into a singular entity which will collectively use the name Tommy Thompson Park once integrated.

To that end, the Joint Management Committee will develop a property transfer plan with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and PortsToronto for the Outer Harbour East Headland and Endikement (see Attachment 1) to ensure that the lands are transferred to Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and incorporated into Tommy Thompson Park. The property transfer plan will include a detailed work program with a timeline addressing the path to the resolution of longer term issues including: property transfers, integration of the Baselands and the new Ashbridges Bay Landform into the Park, the long-term use of Cell 3 for the deposition of dredgeate, shoreline safety, stabilization, remediation, and restoration, and associated costs for City divisions and agencies. The Joint Management Committee will remain in place until these longer-term issues are resolved.

The Joint Management Committee will also be responsible for updating and advancing the formal execution of a Joint Management Agreement for Tommy Thompson Park. In addition to clearly outlining the roles and responsibilities for various aspects of the Park's operation, the Joint Management Agreement will consider the need to develop and implement coordinated policies that address user issues such as filming, dog walking, recreational interests such as sailing and other boat activity, cyclist/pedestrian conflicts and by-law enforcement. The Committee will also develop and implement a clear communications strategy that helps the public understand how the Park is managed and how public concerns can be raised and addressed. The Committee will work with Toronto and Region Conservation Authority staff on a process for securing community input related to decision-making on potential new projects and programs. City staff will report to the appropriate City Committees in future years on the resolution of the longer-term issues that will facilitate property consolidation, address shoreline stability, remediation, and restoration, and collaboratively develop a permanent operating and maintenance model for the Park. Staff will also report through future year budget processes on future operating and capital budget needs. The ultimate goal of the proposed Committee's activities will be to ensure that Tommy Thompson Park's user experience befits its unique and signature status as a regional destination where visitors can experience an urban wilderness on Toronto's waterfront.