Item - 2017.TE23.62

The Toronto and East York Community Council directed that:

1.  The Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District prepare a new Site and Area Specific Policy for the Bloor-Yorkville Area in accordance with the schedule in Attachment 2 of the report (March 17, 2017) from the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District.

2. The Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District establish a Local Advisory Committee and to hold community consultation meetings in consultation with the Ward Councillor and to work with the Local Advisory Committee on site-specific policies, zoning by-law amendments and other planning tools that could be implemented in the Bloor-Yorkville Area in advance of the completion of the Downtown Secondary Plan.

3.  Notice for the community consultation meetings be given via newspaper advertisement and notice to the local business and resident associations.

4.  Notice for the public meeting under the Planning Act be given according to the regulations of the Planning Act.

5.  The Director, Community Planning, in consultation with the Local Advisory Committee, continue to evaluate current and future development applications and City projects, within the area covered by OP policy 211, with consideration to the Bloor-Yorkville/North Midtown Planning Framework Study and incorporating TO Core policy directions, prior to the completion of the TO Core Downtown Secondary Plan.

Bloor-Yorkville is subject to Site and Area Specific Policy 211 and 225, both dating back to the 1970s.   It is timely to update existing policies and guidelines as the area is seeing significant growth and change. 

Planning staff have been requested by Toronto and East York Community Council to prepare a Secondary Plan for the Bloor-Yorkville area.  The area is generally bounded by: Avenue Road to the west; the CP railway corridor to the north; Yonge Street/Rosedale Valley Road/Sherbourne Street to the east; and Charles Street to the south.

City Planning staff are currently developing a new Secondary Plan for the Downtown, which includes the Bloor-Yorkville area, through the TOcore study. 

As a result, Planning staff is recommending that a new Site and Area Specific Policy (SASP) be prepared for the Bloor-Yorkville area, to be included within the new Downtown Secondary Plan, rather than the preparation of a separate Secondary Plan.

The new Bloor-Yorkville SASP will be a City initiated Official Plan Amendment (OPA). The SASP will build on the foundation of existing planning policies, frameworks and guidelines that currently apply to the Bloor-Yorkville area, to strengthen and refine the area's planning framework that guides its growth and change.

This report provides preliminary information on the work plan and schedule for development of the Bloor-Yorkville SASP, and seeks Community Council's direction on the community consultation process.