Item - 2022.PH30.5

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Authorized the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to use the Preliminary Assessments, attached as Attachment 1 to the report (December 21, 2021) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning as a basis for consultation during the first quarter of 2022.

2. Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to provide a preliminary assessment for the conversion request at 1265-1289 Lawrence Avenue West (No. 98) at the March 25, 2022 Planning and Housing Committee meeting and as part of the preliminary assessment to:

a. Expand their preliminary review of the conversion request by including the lands directly east and south that are designated General Employment Areas and Core Employment Areas at 1235-1255 Lawrence Avenue West, 3-15 Benton Road and 10-22 Benton Road.

3. Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to provide a preliminary assessment for the conversion request at 60 Paton Road (No. 111) at the February 15, 2022 Planning and Housing Committee meeting and as part of the preliminary assessment to:

a. Expand their preliminary review of the conversion request by including the lands directly east designated as General Employment Areas at 640 Lansdowne Avenue; and   

b. Consider ways in which the City can secure low barrier entry employment as part of any recommended conversion to ensure that similar employment opportunities and/or training facilities can be accommodated to support affected communities.

Toronto is largely built-out and there is fierce competition for land for both residential and employment space. Toronto must find room via infill and redevelopment of existing land and buildings to accommodate growth. At the same time, the city’s Employment Areas face considerable pressure to convert to permit a broader range of uses, including sensitive residential uses. Due to the operational needs of many businesses and given differences in development economics, once land designated Employment Areas is converted, it is unlikely that these lands will be developed for significant future industrial, manufacturing or distribution employment activity.

This report provides 39 preliminary assessments for a grouping of requests to convert land designated as Core Employment Areas and General Employment Areas as part of the City's Official Plan Growth Plan Conformity and Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR). This is the first in a series of reports providing staff's preliminary position for the basis of consultation with key stakeholders and the public, including landowners and businesses, to obtain comments and feedback.

Council defined a year-long window during which staff would receive formal written requests to convert lands designated as Core Employment Areas and General Employment Areas. The City Planning Division received approximately 140 conversion requests before the opportunity to submit a conversion request closed on August 3, 2021. Proponents were given an additional month to supplement their conversion requests with information required for staff to conduct a technical analysis of the conversion request.

Nine conversion requests were received which did not submit the necessary materials and studies to undertake the required review. Staff will bring forward a final report on these "incomplete" conversion requests recommending Council's refusal given the lack of information for staff to adequately review the request.

Staff will prepare final recommendations for each of the conversion requests for Planning and Housing Committee and Council's consideration as part of a statutory public meeting under Section 26 of the Planning Act.