Item - 2018.NY32.20

North York Community Council recommends that: 

1. City Council endorse the Laird in Focus Planning Study Final Report (Attachment 4) dated June 2018, prepared by The Planning Partnership, with the following recommendations in Appendix B of the Transportation Study in the Laird in Focus Planning Study Final Report being deleted:

a. the signalized intersection at Don Avon Drive/Eglinton Avenue East;

b. the signalized intersection at Vanderhoof Drive/Laird Drive; and

c. modifications to the medians n Laird Drive.

2. City Council direct that further consultation with the community and City Staff regarding the matters listed in Recommendation 1 above, be undertaken by City Planning Staff.

3. City Council request the City Planning Division to undertake further stakeholder engagement and public consultation on the policy directions outlined in the report (June 25, 2018) from the Director, Community Planning, North York District. and in Attachment 4, to inform the development of a Site and Area Specific Policy (SASP) for the Laird in Focus Planning Study area.

4. City Council request the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division, to bring forward a draft Site and Area Specific Policy and supporting implementation strategies for the Laird in Focus Planning Study area, based on the recommendations summarized in Attachment 4, and informed by the consultation in Recommendation 3, in the second quarter of 2019.

5. City Council direct that any Official Plan amendment and rezoning applications within the Laird in Focus Planning Study area be reviewed in the context of the recommendations outlined in Attachment 4 and the report (June 25, 2018) from the Director, Community Planning, North York District.

6. City Council direct City Planning, Transportation Services and Engineering and Construction Services staff in consultation with Metrolinx to ensure that proper coordination is undertaken to implement the streetscape improvements identified in the Laird in Focus Planning Study in Attachment 4, through municipal capital works on public streets in the Study Area.

The Laird in Focus Planning Study seeks to establish a planning framework to manage growth and development along Laird Drive and Eglinton Avenue East within the Leaside neighbourhood. This study responds to the $8 billion investment in the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, and will put in place a planning framework to accommodate prescribed population and job growth around the LRT station, address transportation and servicing capacity issues and create a plan for a complete, mixed use and vibrant community.

In 2016, the City of Toronto launched Laird in Focus – a multi-disciplinary study that would build off the Eglinton Connects Planning Study of 2014 and examine the potential to accommodate future residential, mixed use and/or employment growth at Laird Drive and Eglinton Avenue East, the location of a future station for the LRT.

This report provides an overview of the study objectives and process and lays out a vision, goals and principles for the area. Staff are recommending that City Council endorse the Consultant Team's Final Report, dated June 2018, request staff to undertake further stakeholder and public consultation on the directions outlined by the Consultant Team in the Final Report and request a Site and Area Specific Policy and supporting implementation strategies for the Laird in Focus Planning Study area be brought forward in the second quarter of 2019.