17 Amendments to Official Plan and Zoning By-Law 438-86
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CITY CLERK Clause embodied in Report No. 2 of the Downtown Community Council, as adopted by the Council of the City of Toronto at its meeting held on March 6, 7 and 8, 2001. 17 Amendments to Official Plan and Zoning By-law 438-86 - Leslie-Lakeshore Developments Inc. 199019 - 731 Eastern Avenue (Toronto-Danforth, Ward 30) (City Council at its meeting held on March 6, 7 and 8, 2001, adopted the following recommendation: “It is recommended that the report dated March 5, 2001, from the Commissioner of Urban Development Services, embodying the following recommendations, be adopted, viz.: ‘It is recommended that City Council: (1) approve the proposed approach to amend the Official Plan and Zoning By-law for the former City of Toronto as they apply to 731 Eastern Avenue substantially in accordance with the draft Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments contained in Appendix B of this report; (2) authorize the City Solicitor to make such stylistic and technical changes to the draft Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments as may be required, and instruct the City Solicitor and the Commissioner of Urban Development Services to attend at the Ontario Municipal Board in support of the amendments proposed in this report; (3) request the Ontario Municipal Board to withhold the issuance of its Order approving the Official Plan or Zoning By-law Amendments for 731 Eastern Avenue until such time as all site planning matters, including traffic ingress and egress, have been resolved and the applicant has entered into a Site Plan Agreement under Section 41 of the Planning Act; (4) request that the Commissioner of Urban Development Services hold a community consultation meeting on March 26, 2001 at Bruce Public School, prior to the Ontario Municipal Board hearing, to discuss the status of the application and the findings of the Eastern Avenue study; and (5) request the Commissioner of Urban Development Services to report further on the Draft Urban Design Guidelines, attached in Appendix C, for the study area south of Eastern Avenue.”) Toronto City Council 2 Downtown Community Council March 6, 7 and 8, 2001 Report No. 2, Clause No. 17 The Downtown Community Council submits this matter to Council without recommendation. The Downtown Community Council reports, for the information of Council, having: (1) requested the Commissioner of Urban Development Services to meet with the applicant and report directly to Council on: (a) the concerns raised by the deputants and the communications received; (b) means to reduce auto-dependency including applicable parking standards; and (c) other concerns raised by the Downtown Community Council, such as increasing “employment uses” and value-added activity; achieving a relocation or improved integration of the Tim Horton’s/Wendy’s establishment; the enhancement of urban design at the “liberated” intersection of Leslie Street and Lake Shore Boulevard East; (2) recognizing that the report (January 30, 2001) from the Director, Community Planning, South District, community input and the applicant’s representative, at the Downtown Community Council meeting held on February 13, 2001, indicated that a “baby box” development, with a regional retail draw, is not the desired or intended use, requested the Commissioner of Urban Development Services to meet with the applicant and report directly to Council on a further size reduction and further use restrictions for retail and service uses proposed in this application; (3) requested the Commissioner of Urban Development Services to hold a community consultation meeting prior to the Ontario Municipal Board hearing in April, 2001, to discuss the status of the application and the findings of the report (January 30, 2001) from the Director, Community Planning, South District, and to forward the recommendations arising from the community meeting to the Ontario Municipal Board; (4) directed that the site plan review for this application be the subject of a community meeting and report to the Downtown Community Council; and (5) directed that the Leslieville Business Association be included in future dialogue with respect to this matter. The Downtown Community Council submits the following report (January 30, 2001) from the Director, Community Planning, South District: Purpose: This report reviews the merits of an application within the context of a planning study for the south of Eastern area and recommends approval to amend the Official Plan and the Zoning By-law to permit 2,900 m2 of additional retail space at 731 Eastern Avenue. The report also recommends a position for the pending Ontario Municipal Board hearing on this matter. Toronto City Council 3 Downtown Community Council March 6, 7 and 8, 2001 Report No. 2, Clause No. 17 Financial Implications and Impact Statement: There are no financial implications resulting from the adoption of this report. Recommendations: It is recommended that City Council: (1) approve the proposed approach to amend the Official Plan and Zoning By-law for the former City of Toronto as they apply to 731 Eastern Avenue substantially in accordance with the draft Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments contained in Appendix C to this report; (2) authorize the City Solicitor to make such stylistic and technical changes to the draft Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments as may be required and instruct the City Solicitor and the Commissioner of Urban Development Services to attend at the Ontario Municipal Board in support of the amendments proposed in this report; (3) request that as a condition of any approval of Official Plan or Zoning By-law amendments for 731 Eastern Avenue, the applicant be required to enter into a Site Plan Agreement under Section 41 of the Planning Act prior to the issuance of any Board Order; (4) request that the Commissioner of Urban Development Services hold a community consultation meeting prior to the Ontario Municipal Board hearing in April, 2001, to discuss the status of this application and the findings of this report; and (5) request the Commissioner of Urban Development Services to report further on the Urban Design Guidelines for the study area south of Eastern Avenue between the Don Valley and Woodfield Road including the Lake Shore Boulevard Green Corridor. Background: Proposal The applicant is seeking amendments to the Official Plan and Zoning By-law for 731 Eastern Avenue to redesignate the site from Restricted Industrial Area to General Use Area and from I2 to IC zoning in order to permit a broader range of uses including office, retail and live-work at this location. The applicant is proposing a 2,900 m2 cap on the size of any one retail or service use on the lot. There is no specific building proposed at this time and the applicant has not filed a Site Plan Approval application. The site currently contains a 532.7 m2 Tim-Wen restaurant and drive-thru and is otherwise vacant. Application History An application to redesignate the site at 731 Eastern Avenue was submitted to the City in 1999 and supplemented with a supporting study in January 2000. This study was requested by staff as the Part I Official Plan requires that a redesignation of Restricted Industrial land be done only in the context of an area study. Toronto City Council 4 Downtown Community Council March 6, 7 and 8, 2001 Report No. 2, Clause No. 17 The applicant’s request to redesignate is based on their submission that it will allow for more flexibility to consider alternative development scenarios in the future given changing market conditions. The applicant has asked that the planning permissions be opened and flexible in order to provide for a variety of options as well as some certainty for possible uses. Given the changes taking place in this area, including business reinvestment, the recent vacancy of land and buildings and the dismantling of the Gardiner Expressway extension, I am of the view that this is an appropriate time to consider the request. The applicant wishes to resolve further details including design and traffic at a later date with the submission of a site plan application. On May 23, 2000, Toronto Community Council had before it the Preliminary Report recommending a community meeting be held to discuss this application with the neighbourhood and directed staff to undertake a policy review. Prior to the meeting being held on September 18, 2000, the applicant appealed the application to the Ontario Municipal Board. The hearing is scheduled for April 17, 2001 with a prehearing conference set for February 22, 2001. Staff have undertaken a planning study to review the “Restricted Industrial Area” designation as required by Council policy in order to consider the applicant’s request to change the designation to “General Use Area” for this site. The applicant’s planning study has assisted in this regard. Revisions to the application In the original appeal letter to the Ontario Municipal Board, dated August 2000, the applicant submitted a site specific by-law for the site to permit office uses, live-work units, restaurants, retail and service shop uses having a maximum combined residential and non-residential gross floor area of 3700 m2. In addition, draft by-laws to change the land use designations for 731 Eastern Avenue from Restricted Industrial Area to General Use Area and from I2 to IC were submitted. As of January 10, 2001, the applicant advised the City of revisions to their proposed by-laws. They have modified their Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendments to permit “single retail or service uses not to exceed 2,900 m2” within the 1 times the lot area commercial maximum permission proposed with the IC zoning and to introduce a 45 metre height limit. The applicant’s “retail cap” suggests that retail be capped based on a “single use” or unit by unit basis instead of capping the retail uses based on the lot.