Item - 2022.PH32.14

The Planning and Housing Committee recommends that:

1. City Council state its intention to designate the property at 2726 Danforth Avenue (with entrance address at 2732 Danforth Avenue) under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, in accordance with the Statement of Significance in Attachment 3 to the report (March 9, 2022) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

2. City Council state its intention to designate the property at 2734 Danforth Avenue under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, in accordance with the Statement of Significance in Attachment 4 to the report (March 9, 2022) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

3.  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.

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Directed the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to report directly to City Council on adding the existing wood beam structural elements visible in the basement of the Little York Hotel to the list of heritage attributes.

This report recommends that City Council state its intention to designate the two adjacent listed properties at 2726 and 2734 Danforth Avenue under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for their cultural heritage value. 

The subject properties are located on the north side of Danforth Avenue, east of Main Street and west of Dawes Road within the historic village of Little York known today as the East End-Danforth neighbourhood. The area is associated with an early European settlement at the corner of Danforth Avenue and Dawes Road, the village of Dawes' Corners, which later became Little York at end of the 19th century, the Town of East Toronto between 1903 and 1908, eventually being annexed to the City of Toronto.

The property at 2726 Danforth Avenue, dating to the mid-19th century and later known as Little York Hotel, is a rare surviving example of a pre-Confederation era building in the city and a unique remnant of the hotel/inn typology located near the historic intersection of Danforth and Dawes Road. The design, style and materiality exhibited at the upper-storey level of the original building typifies Georgian architecture while remnant structural members associated with construction methods that pre-date the mass production of machined lumber are still present in the basement.

The adjacent 2-storey main street commercial row building dating to c.1886 and located at 2734 Danforth Avenue is likewise representative of the mid- to late-19th century local streetscape, with brick-clad wood-frame construction and Victorian-era decorative wooden detailing.

Both of the subject properties were identified in the Danforth Avenue Planning Study - Coxwell Avenue to Victoria Park Avenue (2018) and Main Street Planning Study (2019) as potential heritage properties. They were both listed on the City's Heritage Register on December 16, 2020 as part of the Danforth Avenue (Coxwell Avenue to Victoria Park Avenue) and Dawes Road Properties multiple listings staff report.

Heritage Planning staff have undertaken research and evaluation and determined that the two subject properties meet Ontario Regulation 9/06, the criteria prescribed for municipal designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act under all three categories of design, associative and contextual values. As such, the properties are significant built heritage resources. 

On February 6, 2020 the City received an application to amend the zoning by-law to permit the redevelopment of the site with a proposed 9-storey mixed-use building. The development plan proposes conservation of the historic hotel/inn building at 2734 Danforth Avenue and retains portions of the 2-storey historic Main Street commercial row building at 2726 Danforth Avenue.

The application currently under review was deemed complete prior to the amended Ontario Heritage Act (Bill 108) legislation coming into force on July 1, 2021.

Designation enables City Council to review proposed alterations or demolitions to the property and allows staff to enforce heritage property standards and maintenance.

At its meeting on March 23, 2022, the Toronto Preservation Board considered Item PB32.2 and made recommendations to City Council.

Summary from the report (March 1, 2022) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning:

This report recommends that City Council state its intention to designate the two adjacent listed properties at 2726 and 2734 Danforth Avenue under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for their cultural heritage value. 

The subject properties are located on the north side of Danforth Avenue, east of Main Street and west of Dawes Road within the historic village of Little York known today as the East End-Danforth neighbourhood. The area is associated with an early European settlement at the corner of Danforth Avenue and Dawes Road, the village of Dawes' Corners, which later became Little York at end of the 19th century, the Town of East Toronto between 1903 and 1908, eventually being annexed to the City of Toronto.

The property at 2726 Danforth Avenue, dating to the mid-19th century and later known as Little York Hotel, is a rare surviving example of a pre-Confederation era building in the city and a unique remnant of the hotel/inn typology located near the historic intersection of Danforth and Dawes Road. The design, style and materiality exhibited at the upper-storey level of the original building typifies Georgian architecture while remnant structural members associated with construction methods that pre-date the mass production of machined lumber are still present in the basement.

The adjacent 2-storey main street commercial row building dating to c.1886 and located at 2734 Danforth Avenue is likewise representative of the mid- to late-19th century local streetscape, with brick-clad wood-frame construction and Victorian-era decorative wooden detailing.

Both of the subject properties were identified in the Danforth Avenue Planning Study - Coxwell Avenue to Victoria Park Avenue (2018) and Main Street Planning Study (2019) as potential heritage properties. They were both listed on the City's Heritage Register on December 16, 2020 as part of the Danforth Avenue (Coxwell Avenue to Victoria Park Avenue) and Dawes Road Properties multiple listings staff report.

Heritage Planning staff have undertaken research and evaluation and determined that the two subject properties meet Ontario Regulation 9/06, the criteria prescribed for municipal designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act under all three categories of design, associative and contextual values. As such, the properties are significant built heritage resources. 

On February 6, 2020 the City received an application to amend the zoning by-law to permit the redevelopment of the site with a proposed 9-storey mixed-use building.              The development plan proposes conservation of the historic hotel/inn building at 2734 Danforth Avenue and retains portions of the 2-storey historic Main Street commercial row building at 2726 Danforth Avenue.

The application currently under review was deemed complete prior to the amended Ontario Heritage Act (Bill 108) legislation coming into force on July 1, 2021.

Designation enables City Council to review proposed alterations or demolitions to the property and allows staff to enforce heritage property standards and maintenance.