Item - 2022.PH34.17

City Council recessed its public session and met as Committee of the Whole in closed session on July 20, 2022 to consider confidential information on this Item as it pertains to advice or communications that are subject to solicitor-client privilege and potential litigation.

City Council considered Items PH34.14, PH34.15, PH34.16 and PH34.17, together.

The Planning and Housing Committee recommends that:

1. City Council approve the application to amend the Sign By-law to add an area-specific amendment to Schedule 'B' of Chapter 694, Signage Master Plans and Area-Specific Amendments, to exclude a specific portion of the area defined as the Galt Subdivision from the existing area-specific prohibition on the erection or display of any third party signs contained at section 694- 24A(17); establish regulations applicable to these premises to allow for, and regulate, in addition to the signage otherwise permitted by the Sign By-law, a third party electronic ground sign, and to further amend 694- 24A to establish five new area-specific prohibitions on the display of third party signs in other portions of the Galt Subdivision.

Toronto's Sign By-law is a harmonized, City-wide set of regulations governing signs which was adopted in 2010. The Sign By-law contains a process for any member of the public to apply to City Council to amend the Sign By-law in order to implement significant changes to the sign regulations for a specific property or area. Applications are commonly made requesting amendments to the Sign By-law to allow signs that are prohibited, to remove permissions for signs in an area, or to modify the administrative requirements of the Sign By-law. The Chief Building Official (CBO) brings applications to amend the Sign By-law together on an annual basis for City Council consideration, so that City Council can more easily assess the overall and cumulative impact of these applications on the city's built environment, and the Sign By-law itself.

This report responds to an application for multiple amendments to the Sign By-law made by Allvision Canada (the "Applicant") on behalf of Metrolinx, concerning specific portions of a railway corridor owned or managed by Metrolinx, specifically the "Galt Subdivision".  

The Applicant proposes that City Council amend the Sign By-law in multiple ways:

- To exempt a specific portion of the Galt Subdivision directly adjacent to Highway 427, from an area-specific restriction that prohibits any third party signs from being erected in this location;

- To establish regulations for a sign with two rectangular sign faces, each with a vertical dimension of 4.27 metres and horizontal dimension of 14.63 metres, sign face area of approximately 62.47 square metres each (three times larger than permitted by the Sign By-law); a height of 18 metres (almost twice as high as permitted in the Sign By-law); for the two sign faces to be built in a "v-shaped" configuration, which is typically prohibited by the Sign By-law and, located within 60 metres to a Commercial Residential ("CR") Sign District and facing properties in the CR Sign District which is also prohibited by the Sign By-law ("the Proposed Sign"); and,

- To establish five new area specific prohibitions on the display of third party signs within a 100 metre radius of specific portions of rail corridors known as the "Galt Subdivision".

The proposed amendment would also modify permitting regulations in the Sign By-law so that a permit for the Proposed Sign would be contingent on the removal of five existing signs that are between 1.0 and 6.0 km away from the Proposed Sign, within the Galt Subdivision. In conjunction with these removals, the proposed amendment would introduce five new area specific restrictions that are not only unrelated to the Proposed Sign, but are also largely redundant and will result in unnecessary restrictions in the Sign By-law.

Toronto Building, in consultation with City Planning and Transportation Services, conducted a thorough review of the application, and has concluded that the Applicant's rationale is not consistent with the objectives of the Sign By-law. For the reasons set out in this report, the Chief Building Official does not support amending the Sign By-law for these locations throughout the city.