Item - 2022.TE33.3

The Toronto and East York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council amend City of Toronto Zoning By-law 569-2013 for the lands at 1319 Bloor Street West substantially in accordance with the draft Zoning By-law Amendment attached as Attachment 6 to the May 9, 2022 report from the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District.

2. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make such stylistic and technical changes to the draft Zoning By-law Amendment as may be required.

3. City Council require the owner to enter into an Agreement pursuant to Section 37 of the Planning Act as follows:

a. Prior to the earlier of condominium registration or first residential use on site, the owner shall design, construct, finish and convey to the City, in an acceptable environmental condition, for nominal consideration and at no cost to the City, a minimum 5,000 square feet (465 square metres) Community Agency Space located on levels one and two of the podium fronting Bloor Street West and subject to the following:

i. The Community Agency Space shall be delivered to the City in accordance with the City's Community Space Tenancy Policy and finished to Base Building Condition, with the terms and specifications to be secured in the Section 37 Agreement, all satisfactory to the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management, the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor;

ii. Prior to the issuance of the first above grade building permit for residential development, the owner shall provide a letter of credit in the amount sufficient to guarantee 120 percent of the estimated cost of the design, construction, and conveyance of the Community Agency Space complying with the specifications and requirements of the Section 37 Agreement, to the satisfaction of the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management, the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor;   

iii. Prior to the conveyance of the Community Agency Space to the City, the owner shall provide a one-time cash contribution in the amount of $500,000.00 for total finishing costs of the community agency space; and

iv. Concurrent with or prior to, the conveyance of the Community Agency Space to the City, the owner and the City shall enter into, and register on title to, the appropriate lands an Easement and Cost Sharing Agreement for nominal consideration and at no cost to the City, that is in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor. The Easement and Cost Sharing Agreement shall address and/or provide for the integrated support, use, operation, maintenance, repair, replacement, and reconstruction of certain shared facilities, and the sharing of costs, in respect thereof, of portions of the subject lands to be owned by the City and the owner as they pertain to the Community Agency Space.

b. The owner shall provide and maintain 15 new affordable rental dwelling units on the lands at 1319 Bloor Street West for a minimum period of ninety-nine (99) years beginning from the date that each such unit is first occupied, in accordance with the following:

i. At least one (1) of the new affordable rental dwelling units shall be a three-bedroom rental unit with an average unit size of approximately 90 square metres;

ii. At least four (4) of the new affordable rental dwelling units shall be two-bedroom rental units with an average unit size of approximately 70 square metres;

iii. At least ten (10) of the new affordable rental dwelling units shall be one-bedroom rental units with an average unit size of approximately 50 square metres;

iv. The fifteen (15) new affordable rental dwelling units shall be provided in vertically and/or horizontally contiguous groups of six (6) or more dwelling units within the development;

v. The location and layouts of the new affordable rental dwelling units within the development shall be to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

vi.  The owner shall provide and maintain all fifteen (15) new affordable rental dwelling units as secured rental housing at affordable rents, as currently defined in the Official Plan, for a minimum period of ninety-nine (99) years beginning from the date that each such unit is first occupied. During such ninety-nine (99) year period, the rent (inclusive of utilities) charged to any tenant of a new affordable rental dwelling unit shall not exceed one (1) times the average rent for the same bedroom type in the City of Toronto, as reported by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in its most recent Rental Market Survey, and no application shall be made to demolish any affordable rental dwelling unit or to convert any affordable rental dwelling unit to a non-residential rental purpose;

vii. Notwithstanding Part 3.b.vi. above, after the first year of occupancy of an affordable rental dwelling unit, the rent (inclusive of utilities) charged to any first tenant or new tenant of a new affordable rental dwelling unit may be escalated annually by not more than the annual provincial rent guideline, irrespective of whether such guideline is applicable to the unit under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 or any successor legislation governing residential tenancies in Ontario, until the tenancy ends;

viii.  At least six (6) months in advance of any new affordable rental dwelling unit being made available for rent, the owner shall develop and implement a Tenant Access Plan in consultation with, and to the satisfaction of, the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to ensure the affordable rental units are rented to eligible households;

ix.  The fifteen (15) new affordable rental dwelling units shall be made ready and available for occupancy no later than the date by which seventy percent (70%) of the new dwelling units erected on the lands are available and ready for occupancy;

x. The owner shall provide all tenants of the affordable rental dwelling units with access to, and use of, all indoor and outdoor amenities in the development at no extra charge and on the same terms and conditions as any other resident of the building without the need to pre-book or pay a fee, unless specifically required as a customary practice for private bookings; and

xi. The owner shall provide all tenants of the affordable rental dwellings units with laundry facilities on the same basis as other residents of the development at no extra charge.

4. City Council also direct that the following be secured in the Section 37 Agreement as a legal convenience to secure matters required to support the development. These matters will be delivered or secured through the Site Plan review process, and prior to Site Plan approval:

a. The owner shall prepare all documents and convey a Pedestrian Clearway Easement to the City to secure a 6.0 metre corner rounding, at a minimum height of 3.0 metres above finished grade, at the northeast corner of 1319 Bloor Street West (southwest corner of Bloor Street West and St. Helen's Avenue), together with rights of support, such lands to be free and clear of all other physical and title encumbrances, and subject to a right-of-way for access and construction purposes in favour of the Grantor until such time as the said lands have been laid out and dedicated for public pedestrian clearway purposes, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services and the City Solicitor;

b. The owner shall submit to the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services, a draft Reference Plan of Survey in metric units and integrated into the Ontario Coordinate System, with coordinate values shown on the face of the plan and delineating thereon, by separate PARTS, the lands to be conveyed to the City for corner rounding purposes as, the remainder of the site, and any appurtenant right-of-way, for review and approval, prior to depositing it in the Land Registry Office;

c. The owner shall prepare all documents and convey a Pedestrian Clearway Easement to the City to secure a 2.5 metre wide minimum pedestrian clearway, to a minimum height of 3.0 metres above finished grade, along the Bloor Street West frontage of the subject site, together with rights of support, such lands to be free and clear of all other physical and title encumbrances, and subject to a right-of-way for access and construction purposes in favour of the Grantor until such time as the said lands have been laid out and dedicated for public pedestrian clearway purposes, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services and the City Solicitor;

d. The owner shall submit a comprehensive Construction Management Plan for each stage of the construction process, to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Transportation Services, the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building and the Ward Councillor. The Construction Management Plan will include, but not be limited to the following construction-related details: noise, dust, size and location of staging areas, location and function of gates, dates of significant concrete pouring, lighting details, vehicular parking and queuing locations, street closures, parking and access, refuse storage, site security, site supervisor contact information, and a communication strategy with the surrounding community, and any other matters requested by the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with the Ward Councillor;

e. The owner shall submit a financial security in the form of a letter of credit or certified cheque (amount to be determined) for the traffic control signals to be installed at the intersection of Bloor Street West and St. Helen's Avenue, and any subsequent timing card/programming costs, as required by the General Manager, Transportation Services;

f. The owner shall submit a payment in the form of a certified cheque (amount to be determined) for the pavement marking and signage additions and modifications required within the frontage of the site and at the Bloor Street West and St. Helen's Avenue intersection, to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Transportation Services;

g. The owner shall submit a payment of $85,513.01 for a five year maintenance fee for the required new traffic signal at Bloor Street West and St. Helen's Avenue;

h. The owner shall submit financial contributions/payments in the form of a letter of credit or certified cheques and/or provide additional documentation for the implementation of a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) plan. These provisions include, but are not limited to:

i. The owner shall pay for a bike share station on the subject site, in the event that a bike share station is not provided on the future Metrolinx lands;

ii. A minimum of three (3) publicly accessible car-share spaces on-site;

iii. One (1) car-share and/or bike-share membership per unit, offered for the first year of occupancy; and

iv. A minimum of one (1) bike repair station/area provided on-site.

i. The owner shall submit a revised Functional Servicing and Stormwater Management Report, Hydrogeological Report and supporting documents, including confirmation of water and fire flow, sanitary and storm capacity, to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services, in consultation with the General Manager, Toronto Water;

j. The owner shall address all outstanding engineering issues set out in the memoranda dated March 28, 2022, as well as any other comments that may arise from further review of materials to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services and the General Manager, Transportation Services;

k. The owner shall design and submit the provision of financial securities for any upgrades or required improvements to the existing municipal infrastructure and/or new municipal infrastructure identified in the accepted Engineering Reports to support the development, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services, should it be determined that improvements or upgrades and/or new infrastructure are required to support the development;

l. The owner shall submit a Rail Safety Assessment for peer review, at the owner's sole expense, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

m. The owner shall submit a revised Noise and Vibration Impact Study for peer review, at the owner's sole expense, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

n. The owner shall submit a revised Compatibility Mitigation Study for peer review, at the owner's sole expense, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning; and

o. The owner shall provide to the City for nominal consideration Privately-Owned Publicly Accessible Open Space (POPS) easements for the on-site POPS of approximately 304 square metres located within the centre of the subject site, for public access and provisions for rights of support if necessary, encumbrances and insurance, and indemnification of the City by the owner, to the satisfaction of the Director, Real Estate Services, the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and the City Solicitor in consultation with the Ward Councillor. The owner shall own, operate, maintain, and repair the POPS and install signage in a location to be determined through the Site Plan review process, at its own POPS at any time, 365 days a year. The final design and program of the POPS will be determined through the Site Plan review process and secured in a Site Plan Agreement, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

5. In accordance with Section 42 of the Planning Act, prior to the first above grade building permit, the owner shall convey to the City, a parkland dedication, having a minimum size of 1,077 square metres located towards the southeastern limit of the subject site, which includes a 193 square metre off-site dedication from the site at 1423-1437 Bloor Street West and 278 Sterling Road (Application Number 21 139658 STE 09 OZ), to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation and the City Solicitor.

6. City Council approve the acceptance of an on-site parkland dedication, subject to the owner transferring the parkland to the City free and clear, above and below grade, of all easements, encumbrances, and encroachments, in an acceptable environmental condition; the owner may propose the exception of encumbrances of tiebacks, where such an encumbrance is deemed acceptable by the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, in consultation with the City Solicitor; and such an encumbrance will be subject to the payment of compensation to the City, in an amount as determined by the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation and the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management.

7. In the event the owner elects to design and construct Above Base Park Improvements, City Council approve a development charge credit against the Parks and Recreation component of the Development Charges for the design and construction by the owner of the Above Base Park Improvements to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation. The development charge credit shall be in an amount that is the lesser of the cost to the owner of designing and constructing the Above Base Park Improvements, as approved by the General Manager, Park, Forestry and Recreation, and the Parks and Recreation component of development charges payable for the development in accordance with the City's Development Charges By-law, as may be amended from time to time.

8. City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services, to review and to report back on amending Schedule B of the City of Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 925, Permit Parking, to exclude the development located at 1319 Bloor Street West from permit parking area 2.

The Toronto and East York Community Council held a statutory public meeting on May 26, 2022 and notice was given in accordance with the Planning Act.

This application proposes to amend the Zoning By-law to permit a mixed-use development with two residential towers with heights of 27 and 31-storeys atop a "C-shaped" base building ranging in height between two and 12-storeys. The base building would include retail uses at-grade and a community agency space. The proposed development would include a 1,077 square metre public park located towards the southeastern limit of the subject site, a privately-owned publicly accessible open space (POPS) located within the centre of the subject site, and a 465 square metre community agency space within levels one and two of the base building fronting Bloor Street West. The owner has also entered a commercial agreement with Metrolinx under the Province of Ontario's and Metrolinx's Transit-Oriented Communities Program and the future Bloor-Lansdowne SmartTrack station would be integrated within the proposed development.

A total of 60,439 square metres of gross floor area (GFA) is proposed, of which 59,238 square metres is residential GFA, 291 square metres is retail GFA, 465 square metres is community agency space GFA, and 445 square metres for the SmartTrack station. The development would also contain 799 residential units, 268 vehicular parking spaces, and 800 bicycle parking spaces.

The proposed development is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (2020), conforms with A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2020), conforms to the relevant policies of the Official Plan, the Council endorsed Planning Framework for the Bloor Street Study: St. Helen's Avenue to Perth Avenue, and incorporates direction from the applicable design guidelines.

This report reviews and recommends approval of the application to amend the Zoning By-law.