Item - 2022.TE31.7

The Toronto and East York Community Council Division recommends that:

1. City Council approve the Rental Housing Demolition application (18 173492 STE 22 RH) under Chapter 667 of the Toronto Municipal Code pursuant to Section 111 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 to permit the demolition of nineteen (19) existing rental townhouse units at 95-131 Balliol Street, subject to the following conditions:

a. the owner shall provide and maintain nineteen (19) replacement rental townhouse units for a period of at least 20 years beginning from the date that each replacement rental townhouse unit is first occupied. During such 20-year period, no replacement rental townhouse unit shall be registered as a condominium or any other form of ownership housing that provides a right to exclusive possession of a dwelling unit, including life-lease or co-ownership, and no application shall be made to demolish any replacement rental townhouse unit or convert any replacement rental townhouse unit to a non-residential rental purpose. The nineteen (19) replacement townhouse rental units shall collectively contain a total gross floor area of at least 2,905 square metres and be comprised of five (5) four-bedroom units, twelve (12) three-bedroom units, and two (2) two-bedroom units, as generally illustrated in the plans prepared by BDP Quadrangle and submitted to the City Planning  dated November 18, 2021. Any revision to these plans shall be to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

b. the owner shall provide and maintain at least six (6) three-bedroom replacement rental townhouse units and two (2) two-bedroom replacement rental townhouse units at mid-range rents, as currently defined in the Toronto Official Plan, for a period of at least ten (10) years beginning from the date of first occupancy of each unit. The five (5) four-bedroom replacement rental townhouse units and remaining six (6) three-bedroom replacement rental townhouse units shall have unrestricted rents, except where an Eligible Tenant elects to return to an unrestricted replacement rental townhouse unit, in which case the rent will be similar to their previous rent, as provided for under the City-approved Tenant Relocation and Assistance Plan required in Recommendation 1.c. below;

c. the owner shall provide an acceptable Tenant Relocation and Assistance Plan to all Eligible Tenants of the nineteen (19) existing rental townhouse units proposed to be demolished at 95-131 Balliol Street, addressing the right to return to occupy one of the replacement rental townhouse units at similar rents (including the right for existing tenants of two-bedroom rental townhouse units to return to three-bedroom replacement rental townhouse units without an increase in rent from moving to a larger bedroom type) and other assistance to mitigate hardship. The Tenant Relocation and Assistance Plan shall be developed in consultation with, and to the satisfaction of, the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

d. the owner shall offer all replacement rental townhouse units without returning tenants to the general public on a fair and open basis, consistent with general practices within the rental market and with leases of not less than one (1) year, ensuring that any household entering into a new lease for a replacement rental townhouse unit has an income of no more than four (4) times the annual rent for such unit. The owner shall individually advertise each replacement rental townhouse unit without a returning tenant through one or more publicly-available online rental listing websites and shall not lease any of the replacement rental townhouse units to a short-term rental housing provider;

e. the owner shall provide tenants of all nineteen (19) replacement rental townhouse units with access to, and use of, all indoor and outdoor amenities in the proposed development at no extra charge, and on the same terms and conditions as any other resident of the development, without the need to pre-book or pay a fee unless specifically required as a customary practice for private bookings;

f. the owner shall provide ensuite laundry in each replacement rental townhouse unit within the proposed development at no additional cost to tenants;

g. the owner shall provide central air conditioning in each replacement rental townhouse unit within the proposed development at no additional cost to tenants;

h. the owner shall provide and make available at least nine (9) vehicular parking spaces to tenants of the replacement rental townhouse units at an initial monthly parking charge of one hundred dollars ($100.00), which may be increased thereafter on an annual basis by not more than the Guideline, and such vehicular parking spaces shall be made available firstly to returning tenants who previously rented a vehicle parking space, secondly to returning tenants who did not previously rent a vehicle parking space, and thirdly to new tenants of the replacement rental townhouse units;

i. the owner shall provide tenants of the replacement rental townhouse units with access to all bicycle and visitor vehicular parking at no charge and on the same terms and conditions as any other resident of the proposed development;

j. the owner shall provide and make available at least seven (7) storage lockers to tenants of the replacement rental townhouse units at no charge, and such storage lockers shall be made available firstly to returning tenants whose demolished rental townhouse unit contained storage space that was not replaced, secondly to returning tenants whose demolished rental townhouse unit did not contain storage space that was not replaced, and thirdly to new tenants of the replacement rental townhouse units;

k. the nineteen (19) replacement rental townhouse units required in Recommendation 1.a above shall be made ready and available for occupancy no later than the date by which seventy percent (70%) of the new dwelling units in the proposed development, exclusive of the replacement rental units, are made available and ready for occupancy; and

l. the owner shall enter into, and register on title to the lands at 95-131 and 155 Balliol Street, one or more agreement(s) to secure the conditions outlined in Recommendations 1.a through 1.k above, including an agreement pursuant to Section 111 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006, all to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

2. City Council authorize the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to issue Preliminary Approval of the Rental Housing Demolition Permit under Chapter 667 of the Toronto Municipal Code pursuant to Section 111 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 for the demolition of the nineteen (19) existing rental townhouse units at 95-131 Balliol Street after all the following have occurred:

a. all conditions in Recommendation 1 above have been fully satisfied and secured;

b. the Zoning By-law Amendments have come into full force and effect;

c. the issuance of the Notice of Approval Conditions for site plan approval by the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning or their designate pursuant to Section 114 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006; 

d. the issuance of excavation and shoring permits (conditional or full permits) for the approved development on the site;

e. the owner has confirmed, in writing, that all existing rental townhouse units proposed to be demolished are vacant; and

f. the execution and registration of agreements pursuant to Section 37 of the Planning Act and Section 111 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 securing Recommendations 1.a. through 1.k above and any other requirements of the Zoning By-law Amendments (if applicable).

3. City Council authorize the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building to issue a Rental Housing Demolition Permit under Chapter 667 of the Toronto Municipal Code after the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning has given the Preliminary Approval referred to in Recommendation 2 above.
 

4. City Council authorize the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building to issue a Residential Demolition Permit under Section 33 of the Planning Act and Chapter 363 of the Toronto Municipal Code for 95-131 Balliol Street after the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning has given the Preliminary Approval referred to in Recommendation 2 above, which may be included in the Rental Housing Demolition Permit under Chapter 667 pursuant to section 6.2 of Chapter 363, on condition that:

a. the owner removes all debris and rubble from the site immediately after demolition;

b. the owner erects solid construction hoarding to the satisfaction of the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building;

c. the owner erects the proposed building no later than three (3) years from the date on which the demolition of the existing rental townhouse units commences, subject to the timeframe being extended to the discretion of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning; and

d. should the owner fail to complete the proposed development containing the nineteen (19) replacement rental townhouse units within the time specified in Recommendation 4.c. above, the City Clerk shall be entitled to enter on the collector’s roll, as with municipal property taxes, an amount equal to the sum of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00) per dwelling unit for which a demolition permit is issued, and that such amount shall, until payment, be a lien or charge upon the land for which the Residential Demolition Permit is issued.

5. City Council authorize the appropriate City officials to take such actions as are necessary to implement the above recommendations, including execution of the Section 111 agreement and other related agreements.

The Toronto and East York Community Council held a statutory public meeting on February 16, 2022 and notice was given in accordance with the Planning Act.

A Rental Housing Demolition application (18 173492 STE 22 RH) has been submitted under Chapter 667 of the Toronto Municipal Code pursuant to Section 111 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 for the residential rental property at 95-131 and 155 Balliol Street.

The application proposes to demolish 19 rental townhouse units at 95-131 Balliol Street and redevelop the lands with a 37-storey residential building comprised of 440 dwelling units, including 19 replacement rental townhouse units on the first through fourth floors. The proposal includes a Tenant Relocation and Assistance Plan that addresses the right for existing tenants to return to a replacement rental townhouse unit at similar rent and financial compensation to mitigate hardship. The existing 18-storey rental apartment building known municipally as 155 Balliol Street, which is comprised of 267 rental dwelling units, would be retained as part of the development and none of the building's residents would experience any changes to their tenancies.

The properties are also the subject of a Zoning By-law Amendment (ZBA) application (20 155678 STE 12 OZ), which was appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) in October 2020 (Case No. PL200550) due to City Council's failure to make a decision on the applications within the timeframe prescribed by the Planning Act. A settlement offer was endorsed by City Council on October 1, 2021. In its Decision dated November 5, 2021, the OLT approved the proposed ZBAs in principle and withheld its final Order until outstanding matters, including a decision by City Council on the Rental Housing Demolition application, are resolved.

This report recommends approval of the Rental Housing Demolition application under Chapter 667 of the Toronto Municipal Code and the Residential Demolition Permit under Chapter 363 of the Toronto Municipal Code, subject to conditions.