Item - 2012.PG16.1

The Planning and Growth Management Committee:

1.         Directed that the draft City wide Zoning By-law be made available to the public in printed form for viewing at each of the Civic Centres and City Hall in the Office of the City Clerk, as well as in electronic form available online at the City Clerk's Council and Committee web page: (http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/decisionBodyProfile.do?function=doPrepare&meetingId=5685#Meeting-2012.PG16)

2.         Directed that the draft City-wide Zoning By-law be made available to the public in electronic form at: http://www.toronto.ca/zoning with the opportunity to comment on-line or write to the Acting Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and that staff make themselves available to answer questions and meet upon request.

3.         Directed Staff to attend community meetings sponsored by Ward Councillors upon request.

4.         Directed the Acting Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to submit a report to the October 12, 2012 meeting of the Planning and Growth Management Committee that outlines the comments received from members of the public and makes recommendations with respect to changes to the draft City-wide Zoning By-law.

5.         Directed that a special meeting of the Planning and Growth Management Committee be arranged in the latter half of November 2012 to hold a Statutory Public Meeting for the purposes of considering the draft City-wide Zoning By-law for adoption.

6.         Directed the Acting Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning  to consider and report to the October 12, 2012 meeting of the Planning and Growth Management Committee  on amendments to the Harmonized Zoning By-law that would have the effect of prohibiting Holistic Establishments from being located within any Zone that permits residential uses, or within specified Centres, Districts, or Avenues.

7.         Directed the Acting Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to consider and report to the October 12, 2012 meeting of the Planning and Growth Management Committee on amendments to the Harmonized Zoning By-law that would have the effect of requiring an appropriate limiting distance of any Holistic establishment from a Residential, Mixed-use, or Avenue zone.

8.         Directed the Acting Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning,  to consider and report to the October 12, 2012 meeting of the Planning and Growth Management Committee on amendments to the Harmonized Zoning By-law that would have the effect of requiring a limiting distance between Holistic establishments in any Zone.

9.         Referred the deputations and letters submitted to date to the Acting Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, for consideration in his review of the new draft City-wide Zoning By-law. 

The new revised draft City-wide Zoning By-law is appended to this report as Attachment One. Revisions are proposed in response to concerns raised by the appellants of City-wide Zoning By-law 1156-2010, which was repealed in May 2011. Acting on the direction from Council, staff invited all the appellants of the former By-law 1156-2010 to meetings to describe their concerns. The meetings took place over the summer and early autumn of 2011. The report summarizes the concerns raised by the appellants and summarizes, chapter by chapter, the changes made to the new draft in comparison to the previous Zoning By-law. The report also makes recommendations with respect to consultation and reporting schedule for the consideration of the new draft of the Zoning By-law.

Many of the concerns expressed by the appellants of By-law 1156-2010 related to transition from the old to the new zoning regime with respect to the treatment of "pipeline" development applications, the recognition of minor variance and by-law permissions, and the treatment of existing buildings. Proposed changes to the new draft Zoning By-law address these concerns. How gross floor area is defined and regulated has been changed in the revised draft Zoning By-law. The Conservation Overlay Map has been removed but regulations within the draft Zoning By-law continue to require a 10 metre setback from the top of the ravine. Several changes have been made to the Employment Zone regulations based on discussions with appellants. Changes to the Commercial Residential Zones address concerns with tall building regulations, restaurants and outdoor patios. There were a few changes to the Residential Zone category, mostly exemptions for existing buildings and changes to the main wall height to allow greater flexibility in design.