Item - 2020.EC17.6

The Economic and Community Development Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in consultation with the President and Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Community Housing Corporation, and other City divisions as required, to work with the successful proponents to determine the necessary municipal planning approvals that could allow for an integrative food partners framework in the Toronto Community Housing Corporation's buildings at 275, 325, and 375 Bleecker Street and 200 Wellesley Street East in St. James Town, with a specific focus on Phases 0.5 (Preparing for a Neighbourhood Food Hub), 1 (Neighbourhood Food Hub Programming), and 4 (Rooftop Food Production and Permanent Retail Space), as outlined in the report (October 28, 2020) from the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration.

2.  City Council direct the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, in consultation with the President and Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Community Housing Corporation, and other City divisions as required, to work with community-based agencies and other stakeholders, including the OASIS Food Hub, in St. James Town to establish a community food table to lead the development of a collaborative framework to address food security in the St. James Town neighbourhood and report to the Economic and Community Development Committee on the outcomes of the community food table in April 2021.

The St. James Town neighbourhood is bounded by Bloor Street East to the north, Parliament Street to the east, Wellesley Street East to the south and Sherbourne Street to the west. Though the area is densely populated, it is served by only two grocery stores. These stores offer important food access points, but these retailers alone do not ensure affordable access to healthy and fresh food for all residents of the neighbourhood, particularly those with lower incomes. A neighbourhood food hub model in this area may help to address food insecurity concerns among the community.

The St. James Town Community Co-operative has proposed the creation of the OASIS Food Hub. The food hub proposal involves several components including a community food space that offers food storage and distribution, a commercial kitchen and food production underground, at-grade and on a building rooftop, as well as a permanent retail structure.

The purpose of this report is to provide the findings of the review of the actions and approvals necessary for: a) the creation of an underground aquaponics farm at 325 Bleecker Street, a Toronto Community Housing Corporation building and b) a location for the OASIS Food Hub for the production, distribution and management of food and water in St. James Town. This report assesses the feasibility of the various components of the OASIS Food Hub proposal and highlights the need for local food partnerships between community agencies to address food insecurity in St. James Town. Overall, City staff found the proposal for the aquaponics farm and bio-digester not feasible while the other components may be possible if required re-zoning is obtained in some instances.

There are two appendices attached to this report. Appendix A outlines potential residential zoning issues related to food hub activities, and Appendix B is a non-exhaustive list of relevant governing bodies, legislation and regulations related to the development of an aquaponics farm.