Item - 2022.IE30.7

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council adopt the Midtown Infrastructure Implementation Strategy, included as Attachment 1 to the report (May 10, 2022) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, the General Manager, Transportation Services and the General Manager, Toronto Water, and direct City staff to utilize the Strategy in the review of development applications, future capital planning processes and advancing partnership opportunities with City Agencies and Boards.

2. City Council adopt the Public Realm Implementation Strategy as found in Attachment 2 to the report  (May 10, 2022) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, the General Manager, Transportation Services and the General Manager, Toronto Water, and direct City staff to utilize the concept plans in:

a. assessing development applications and securing development-related public realm improvements in the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan area; and

b. advancing the future detailed design and evaluation of the Public Realm Moves, subject to feasibility analysis, public consultation and Council approval, using standards and best practices current at the time of implementation.

3. City Council reiterate its support for addressing the community infrastructure needs (including parks, community centres etc.) in the Yonge and Eglinton community and request that City staff use the Midtown Infrastructure Implementation Strategy to focus efforts on addressing this critical deficit expeditiously, including allocating the necessary capital funding required for these projects to achieve complete communities. 

4. City Council direct the appropriate City Staff to undertake a robust and broad community consultation and communications process as the Midtown Infrastructure Implementation Strategy moves forward, including as part of development review and on-going City-led projects.

This report recommends adopting the Midtown Infrastructure Implementation Strategy (Attachment 1) and Public Realm Implementation Strategy (Attachment 2) to support improved capital project planning and delivery in one of the City's significant growth areas - the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan area, known as Midtown.

In recent years, Midtown has experienced the most development projects of any secondary plan area in the city outside of the Downtown. The area is expected to continue experiencing significant growth over the next 30 years. Over the period of 2016-2051, Midtown is expected to become home to approximately 93,000 new people, which is equivalent to adding more than the 2016 population of the City of Peterborough to the area.

The Implementation Strategy is based on the principle that growth in Midtown will be matched with investment in community facilities, parks, the public realm, local transportation facilities and municipal servicing over time, so that the area grows and evolves as a complete community.

The Strategy supports more effective capital planning and development review in Midtown by creating a shared understanding of project needs and priorities, as well as available funding tools, coordination opportunities, delivery mechanisms, and project phasing. The Strategy outlined in this report:

- focuses on near (2021-2026) and mid-term (2027-2031) projects that align with the City's 10-year window for capital planning and current development-related delivery opportunities;

- identifies long-term (2032-2051) projects that will need to be considered and advanced through future annual updates to the capital plan and ongoing development review;

- identifies key actions to advance near and mid-term projects, and prepare for advancing key long-term projects in the future.

Notably, nearly half (47 percent) of planned projects in Midtown will be delivered through City capital programs, funded through a mix of growth funding tools, such as Development Charges, Parkland Dedication and Section 37, and non-growth related funding tools such as taxes, user fees and debt. The private sector is also expected to play a significant role in delivering over a third of projects through development, either as a base requirement or in-kind contribution. The School Boards and the Toronto Public Library are expected to deliver a small, but important, share of the projects, as well.

The near and mid-term projects identified in the Strategy fall within the current 10-year capital planning horizon, and the majority (71 percent) have funding identified within a capital plan approved by the City, Toronto Public Library, or School Boards, or within an approved development application. Projects that currently have partial or no funding identified will need to be further assessed and brought forward in future budget submissions or as part of future development approval processes.

The Strategy recognizes that concurrent infrastructure and facility improvements will be implemented over time by multiple parties, and that coordination across infrastructure types and with development will be critical to optimizing investment dollars and project outcomes. For this reason, the Strategy identifies opportunities for greater coordination across Divisions, Agencies and Boards as part of annual capital planning and ongoing development review.

Nine key actions are identified in the Strategy that provide direction on infrastructure coordination, improving and expanding parkland and the public realm, and identifying sites with potential to accommodate new community facilities. Several of these key actions are already underway, while others represent new initiatives and approaches that should be advanced to support a more coordinated approach to project delivery in Midtown.

The Strategy concludes with a monitoring framework for tracking implementation progress and ensuring infrastructure requirements and priorities reflect changing conditions over time. It is anticipated that the first five-year monitoring report will be released by 2027.

The Public Realm Implementation Strategy (Appendix 1 to the Strategy and Attachment 2 to the report) complements the broader Infrastructure Implementation Strategy for Midtown and provides preliminary concept plans to guide the future design of nine of the eleven Public Realm Moves identified in the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan, including the Eglinton Green Line, Park Street Loop, Davisville Community Street, Merton Street Promenade, Pailton Crescent Connector, Balliol Green Street, Midtown Greenways, Redpath Revisited, and Yonge Street Squares.