Item - 2022.PB31.1

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends that:

1. City Council state its intention to designate the property at 14 Duncan Street (including entrance addresses at 180, 184, and 188 Pearl Street) under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act in accordance with the Statement of Significance: 14 Duncan Street (Reasons for Designation) attached as Attachment 3 to the report (January 31, 2022) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

2. If there are no objections to the designation, City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the Bill in Council designating the property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

Loryssa Quattrociocchi, Planner, Heritage Preservation, Urban Design, City Planning gave a presentation on 14 Duncan Street - Notice of Intention to Designate a Property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

This report recommends that City Council state its intention to designate the property at 14 Duncan Street (including entrance addresses at 180, 184, and 188 Pearl Street) under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

The property at 14 Duncan Street is situated on the northwest corner of Duncan and Pearl streets in the King-Spadina neighbourhood. It contains the Telfer Paper Box Building, a three-storey structure on a raised basement that was constructed in 1902 by the Telfer Manufacturing Company according to the designs of the well-known Toronto architects Gregg and Gregg. The property is fashioned in the Edwardian Classical style. Occupied for 60 years by the Telfer Paper Box Company, the facility was expanded in 1906 by Wickson and Gregg and again in 1925, when a westward extension was added as was a fourth-storey to this wing. The property was modified at the end of the 20th century when it was converted for commercial uses and continues to contribute to the distinctive heritage character of the King-Spadina neighbourhood, which is grounded in its early-mid 20th-century transformation as the city's primary manufacturing hub and its fashion district identity. 

The property at 14 Duncan Street was included on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register on March 9, 2017 and was identified as a contributing property within the proposed King-Spadina Heritage Conservation District, adopted by City Council in 2017 and currently under appeal.

Following research and evaluation under Ontario Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria prescribed for municipal designation, staff have determined that the property at 14 Duncan Street merits designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its design and physical, historical and associative, and contextual values.

The property is currently the subject of a Zoning By-law amendment application to permit a mixed-use development on the site that proposes to conserve the Telfer Paper Box Building.

In June 2019, the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019 (Bill 108) received Royal Assent. Schedule 11 of this Act included amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act. The Bill 108 Amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act came into force on July 1, 2021, which included a shift in Part IV designations related to certain Planning Act applications. Section 29(1.2) of the Ontario Heritage Act now restricts City Council's ability to give notice of its intention to designate a property under the Act to within 90 days after the City Clerk gives notice of a complete application.

The application currently under review was deemed complete prior to the amended legislation coming into force.

A Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) is required for all development applications that affect listed and designated properties and will be considered when determining how a heritage property is to be conserved. Designation also enables City Council to review proposed alterations or demolitions to the property and enforce heritage property standards and maintenance.