Item - 2019.PH9.3

The Planning and Housing Committee recommends that:

Amendments to the Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 693, Signs Placement Requirements for A-Frame and Portable Signs

1. City Council amend Chapter 693 to require that, when located on public property, A-frame and portable signs must be placed curb-side and in the Furnishing and Planting Zone, as described by the City of Toronto's Streetscape Manual, whenever possible and adhere to any separation distances established by the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards.

2. City Council amend Chapter 693 to include minimum separation distances, as established by the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, for A-frame and portable signs from installations such as bicycle rings, fire hydrants or fire connections, intersection or pedestrian crossovers, postering columns, benches, garbage/recycling bins, and transit stops and shelters as a location requirement.

3. City Council amend Chapter 693 to include that an A-frame or portable sign may be moved or removed:

a. If location requirements are not met;

b. If space is required by the City of Toronto, including for the installation of street furniture, construction, or other municipal purposes; or

c. If space is required by the Toronto Transit Commission, including for operational or public safety reasons.

4. City Council amend Chapter 693 to increase the pedestrian clearway requirement to 2.5 metres for streets identified in Appendix A of the Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 742, Sidewalk Cafes, Parklets and Marketing Displays.

5. City Council amend Chapter 693 to specify that the sign permit identifiers on A-frame and portable signs must be visible and attached to the exterior upper corner of one of the sign faces.

6. City Council amend Chapter 693 to align portable sign regulations with existing A-frame sign regulations by specifying that portable signs also cannot be displayed or erected along the right-of-way areas along Bloor Street East and Bloor Street West between Avenue Road and Sherbourne Street, or along Yonge Street south of Davenport Road.

7. City Council amend Chapter 693 to align portable sign regulations with existing A-frame sign regulations by specifying that:

a. Where the frontage associated with the main, front wall of a building is 6.1 metres or less, a maximum of one portable sign per building may be displayed regardless of the number of businesses in the premises;

b. Where the frontage associated with the main, front wall of a building is more than 6.1 metres, display a maximum of two portable signs per premises regardless of the number of businesses in the premises; and

c. Despite 7a. and 7b., if a building is on a corner property with two or more walls adjacent to a highway, one additional portable sign may be displayed adjacent to the side wall of the building.

Contracted Services Signs

8. City Council amend Chapter 693 to establish a new temporary sign type, called "Contracted Services Signs".

9. City Council amend Chapter 693 to define a Contracted Services Sign as "a sign advertising a contractor who repairs, renovates or landscapes a premise."

10. City Council amend Chapter 693 to direct that, in addition to complying with the general restrictions in the new Article 1 that apply to all signs and the regulations that apply to all temporary signs, Contracted Services Signs must adhere to the following:

a. Only one sign per contractor is allowed.

b. There cannot be more than three signs per property.

c. No permit is required.

d. The sign must be erected entirely on private property.

e. Consent of the owner or occupant of the property is required before the erection of the sign.

f. The sign may only be attached to a stake or fence (not including a fence that is vegetation).

g. The sign can only display content related to a contracted service underway or completed at the property.

h. The sign may have no more than two sign faces and no sign face can be larger than 0.37 square metres in area.

i. The sign cannot exceed a maximum height of 0.61 metres or a maximum width of 0.61 metres.

j. The sign cannot be higher than two metres above grade.

k. The sign may only be displayed once the contracted service has begun and must be removed within 30 days after the work has been complete.

Home Builder Identification Signs

11. City Council amend Chapter 693 to establish a new temporary sign type, called "Home Builder Identification Signs".

12. City Council amend Chapter 693 to define a Home Builder Identification Sign as "a sign identifying the builder or renovator involved in the renovation or construction of a residential building or related structure."

13. City Council amend Chapter 693 to direct that, in addition to complying with the general restrictions in the new Article 1 that apply to all signs and the regulations that apply to all temporary signs, Home Builder Identification Signs must adhere to the following:

a. Only one sign per property is allowed.

b. No permit is required.

c. The sign must be erected entirely on private property.

d. Consent of the owner or occupant of the property is required before the sign is erected.

e. The sign can only display information related to the builder or renovator responsible for undertaking work at a residential building or related structure.

f. The sign may have no more than two sign faces and no sign face can be larger than 1.5 square metres in area.

g. The sign cannot be higher than two metres above grade.

h. The sign may only be displayed once the work has begun and must be removed within 30 days after occupancy has been granted by Toronto Building or passed an interior final inspection.

i. The sign may only be attached to a stake or fence (not including a fence that is vegetation).

Advocacy Signs

14. City Council amend Chapter 693 to establish a new temporary sign type, called "Advocacy Signs".

15. City Council amend Chapter 693 to define an Advocacy Sign as "a sign that advances a point of view and is not for a commercial purpose, not including an election sign."

16. City Council amend Chapter 693 to direct that, in addition to complying with the general restrictions in the new Article 1 that apply to all signs and the regulations that apply to all temporary signs, Advocacy Signs must adhere to the following:

a. Only one sign per premise is allowed.

b. No permit is required.

c. The sign must be erected entirely on private property.

d. Consent of the owner or occupant of the premise is required before the erection of the sign.

e. The sign may have no more than two sign faces and no sign face can be larger than 1.2 square metres in area.

f. The sign cannot be higher than two metres above grade.

g. The sign may only be attached to a stake or fence (not including a fence that is vegetation).

Open House Signs

17. City Council amend Chapter 693 to allow open house signs to be displayed up to 2 hours before the start of the open house and 2 hours after the end of the open house.

18. City Council amend Chapter 693 to state that there may be no more than six open house signs per advertised property.

Mobile Signs

19. City Council amend Chapter 693 to remove the requirement that mobile signs may only have black and white lettering.

20. City Council amend Chapter 693 to remove the requirement that mobile signs be located directly in front of the business that the sign is advertising and instead specify that the sign must be on the property in which the business is located.

Construction Hoarding Signs

21. City Council amend Chapter 693 to move the provisions governing construction hoarding signs from Article III to the Article that includes vehicular destination signs and neighbourhood and business area identification signs; sign types which are administered by the General Manager, Transportation Services.

Alignment with Chapter 742, Cafés, Parklets and Marketing Displays

22. City Council amend Chapter 693 to include the prohibition in Chapter 742 (742-8.5) on an A-frame or portable sign being displayed where a small frontage café or small marketing display has been installed and the building frontage is 6-metres or less.

23. City Council amend Chapter 693 to specify that a business that has a permit for a café or marketing display may locate an A-frame or portable sign only within the limits of the permitted area and must have a permit issued under Chapter 693 for the sign.

Sign Storage

24. City Council amend Chapter 693 to remove the required storage period for all signs, except election signs, and update the removal and disposal provisions accordingly.

Administrative Matters

25. City Council rename Chapter 693 to be "Signs, Election and Temporary".

26. City Council include in the general restrictions section of Chapter 693 that signs regulated by Chapter 693 must not damage underground or aboveground services.

27. City Council amend Chapter 693 to align regulations for temporary signs by requiring that, except in accordance with a sign permit, they be no closer than 0.30 metres from a sidewalk or where there is no sidewalk, 0.30 metres from the travelled portion of the highway, and direct that this provision be included in the location requirements for all temporary signs in the amended Chapter.

28. City Council amend Chapter 693 to:

a. Increase the maximum fine to $100,000;

b. Add a special fine in an amount equal to any economic gain obtained from non-compliance;

c. Include offences for obstruction and failure to provide information as required;

d. Designate each offence as a continuing offence with a maximum daily fine of $10,000 and a total fine which may exceed $100,000; and

e. Include authority to enter to inspect, to make orders to comply and to take remedial action.

29. City Council add the following transition provisions to Chapter 693 to establish that:

a. The provisions of this chapter do not apply to permits granted or agreements entered into before January 6, 2020 until the permits or agreements are renewed, provided that the holders of the permits and parties to the agreements continue to comply with the terms of their permits or agreements and that the permits or agreements are not revoked or terminated and do not expire without renewal; and

b. All prosecutions and other enforcement processes commenced under this chapter which have not been completed on January 6, 2020 shall be completed as if the chapter had not been amended on that date.

Amendments to the Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 694, Signs, General

30. City Council repeal section 694-6A(6) of Chapter 694, Signs, General, removing signs affiliated with the ongoing construction or demolition of a building as this sign type will be regulated as a Home Builder Identification Sign under Chapter 693.

Amendments to the Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 441, Fees

31. City Council amend Chapter 441 to delete fees unique to each sign type (reference numbers 46, 48, 49, 55, 56, 115, 116, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, and 136) so that the removal, retrieval, storage, and disposal fees for temporary signs be used for all forms of temporary signs (reference numbers 137, 138, 139, 140).

32. City Council amend Chapter 441 to update and include an annual adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index fees related to temporary signs, as outlined in Table 1.

Table 1: Recommended updates to fees 137, 138, 139, and 140 in Chapter 441, Fees

33. City Council amend Chapter 441 to delete fee 414 (Annual fee: temporary signs permit - portable) and establish two new fees for the application and renewal of portable sign permits that are identical to that of A-frame sign permits, as outlined in Table 2.

Table 2: Recommended new 2019 portable sign-related fees in Chapter 441, Fees

Implementation

34. City Council authorize the City Solicitor, City Clerk, and Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, to re-structure, consolidate, and simplify all existing requirements to improve the readability of the Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 693 including adding a section setting out the scope of the by-law, consolidating the general restrictions that apply to all signs and setting out more clearly the location requirements, and specific requirements that apply to all sign types, including attachment requirements, and to update Chapter 27, Council Procedures, Chapter 192, Public Service, Chapter 545, Licensing, Chapter 742, Sidewalk Cafes, Parklets and Marketing Displays, and Chapter 743, Streets and Sidewalks, Use of to the reflect the new title of and new section numbers in Chapter 693, as required.

35. City Council direct that the changes to the Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 27, Chapter 441, Chapter 693, and Chapter 694 become effective as of January 6, 2020.

That :

36.  City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to report to the Planning and Housing Committee in the second quarter of 2020 on:

a. A strategy for regulating the use of graphic images, including discretionary powers of by-law enforcement staff, necessary legislative changes from other orders of government, and other recommendations as necessary to protect the public from harm through graphic images in particular of medical procedures: and,

b. Options for improving enforcement of Chapter 693, including opportunities for citizen enforcement and similar approaches used in other Ontario jurisdictions.

37. City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, to report to the Planning and Housing Committee in the fourth quarter of 2020 with a review on the effectiveness of the new restriction for Open house signs.

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1.  Directed the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to review the public presentations and communications on this matter and report directly to the next City Council meeting with any further recommendations to ensure greater accessibility and that Toronto pursue "Beautiful Streets" objectives by further reducing and/or eliminating any third-party advertising and Advocacy Signs on private property, public sidewalks, boulevards and right-of-ways.

Temporary signs are regulated by the Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 693. This report proposes amendments to modernize the By-law to improve enforcement, respond to the use of new sign types in Toronto, and increase the By-law's overall readability. Election signs, posters on public property, and signs regulated under the Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 694, Signs, General were not part of this review.

This report recommends improving the pedestrian clearway by updating placement requirements for A-frame and Portable signs. It is proposed that these signs be placed curb-side and in-line with other street furniture, where possible. The existing 2.1 metre pedestrian clearway requirement would be maintained and expanded to 2.5 metres on specified Downtown Toronto streets to align with the newly-enacted Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 742, Sidewalk Cafes, Parklets and Marketing Displays. These changes are intended to improve the line-of-travel for pedestrians while allowing the business community to continue to use A-frame and Portable signs.

This report also proposes allowing and regulating three new types of temporary signs on private property: Contracted Services Signs, Home Builder Identification Signs, and Advocacy Signs. The proposed regulations for Contracted Services Signs and Home Builder Identification Signs limit the size, number, and display period for these sign types and respond to their use in Toronto. The recommendations also clarify the City's expectations for signage on construction sites, supporting the objectives of the City's Residential Infill Strategy to minimize the impacts of residential construction activity on existing neighbourhoods. The proposed regulations for Advocacy Signs balance the ability of Toronto residents to display content related to civic causes with the need to consider the safety and neighbourhood impacts of these signs.

Further amendments are recommended that would modernize the By-law, improve enforcement, and simplify regulations. These include:

- Updating regulations for Mobile Signs (i.e. those designed to allow for the rearrangement of lettering, typically on steel frames) and Open House Signs;

- Updating the removal and disposal provisions, except for election signs, including deleting the mandatory 30-day storage period and allowing for the timely disposal of unlawful temporary signs; and

- Updating and clarifying fees, and aligning enforcement, fine, and offence provisions with the authority provided under the City of Toronto Act, 2006.
 

This report also responds to two City Council directives requesting a report on enforcement and regulatory options available for signs containing graphic images.

Legal Services, Toronto Building, Toronto Transit Commission, and Transportation Services were consulted in the preparation of this report.