Item - 2020.NY12.6

North York Community Council recommends that: 

1. City Council include the following properties on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register:

a. 81 Barber Greene Road;

b. 849 Don Mills Road;

c. 95-155 Leeward Glenway;

d. 1133 Leslie Street;

e. 44-52 Prince Andrew Place;

f.  20 Wynford Drive;

g. 90 Wynford Drive; and

h. 100 Wynford Drive.

2. City Council defer including the following properties on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register to allow City Staff more time for further productive dialogue with the property owners:

a. 789 Don Mills Road;

b. 15 Gervais Drive;

c. 33 Green Belt Drive;

d. 1123 Leslie Street;

e. 1135 Leslie Street;

f. 39 Wynford Drive; and

g. 50 Wynford Drive.

3. City Council delete the property located at 1200 Eglinton Avenue East from the list of properties recommended for inclusion on the City's Heritage Register.

This report recommends that City Council include 16 properties identified in Recommendation 1 of this report on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register. The properties are located within the Don Mills Crossing Cultural Heritage Resource Assessment (CHRA) study area.

As part of the Don Mills Crossing Study, which resulted in the Don Mills Secondary Plan (Official Plan Amendment 404), City Planning initiated a CHRA to ensure that all properties of cultural heritage value or interest were appropriately identified, understood and conserved as part of an up-to-date planning framework. The planning framework is supported by analysis of the broader context through a number of component studies, including the CHRA, to enable a thorough review of the area context. The CHRA Study Area (noted as ‘Study Area’ within this report) includes properties currently located between Leslie Street to the west, Barber Greene Road and Green Belt Drive to the north, and the Canadian National Railway line to the south and east.

The CHRA identified a collection of company headquarters, institutional and clean industrial buildings constructed between 1950 and 1975 whose Modernist design, low-rise scale, and landscaped settings linked together by a series of curvilinear roads has resulted in a unique cultural heritage landscape informed by the Garden City principles combined with Modernist architecture style. This approach to architecture and a generous landscaped setting was fundamental to the planning of Don Mills. The CHRA also identified housing that responded to the principles of incorporating Modernist architecture in a landscaped setting.

All of these properties meet Ontario Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria prescribed for municipal designation, which the City also applies when assessing properties for its Heritage Register. Properties on the City's Heritage Register will be conserved and maintained in accordance with the Official Plan Heritage Policies.

This report recommends that City Council include 16 properties identified in Recommendation 1 of this report on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register. The properties are located within the Don Mills Crossing Cultural Heritage Resource Assessment (CHRA) study area.

As part of the Don Mills Crossing Study, which resulted in the Don Mills Secondary Plan

(Official Plan Amendment 404), City Planning initiated a CHRA to ensure that all properties of cultural heritage value or interest were appropriately identified, understood and conserved as part of an up-to-date planning framework. The planning framework is supported by analysis of the broader context through a number of component studies, including the CHRA, to enable a thorough review of the area context. The CHRA Study Area (noted as ‘Study Area’ within this report) includes properties currently located between Leslie Street to the west, Barber Greene Road and Green Belt Drive to the north, and the Canadian National Railway line to the south and east.

The CHRA identified a collection of company headquarters, institutional and clean industrial

buildings constructed between 1950 and 1975 whose Modernist design, low-rise scale, and

landscaped settings linked together by a series of curvilinear roads has resulted in a unique

cultural heritage landscape informed by the Garden City principles combined with Modernist

architecture style. This approach to architecture and a generous landscaped setting was

fundamental to the planning of Don Mills. The CHRA also identified housing that responded to the principles of incorporating Modernist architecture in a landscaped setting.

All of these properties meet Ontario Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria prescribed for

municipal designation, which the City also applies when assessing properties for its Heritage

Register. Properties on the City's Heritage Register will be conserved and maintained in

accordance with the Official Plan Heritage Policies.

At its meeting of December 3, 2019, the North York Community Council passed a motion to defer consideration of item NY11.6, Inclusion on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register – Don Mills Crossing (dated November 6, 2019), until its January 8, 2020 meeting to provide an opportunity for property owners to seek further clarification from City staff. Item NY11.6 recommends that City Council include 16 properties identified in Recommendation 1 of the report (November 6, 2019) on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register as these properties meet Ontario Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria for municipal designation, which the City also uses to determine properties for inclusion on its Heritage Register.

Since December 3, 2019, City staff have dialogued with all property owners who expressed concerns about the report. This supplementary report recommends that City Council amend Recommendation 1 of the report, Inclusion on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register – Don Mills Crossing Properties (November 6, 2019), to defer consideration of seven properties comprising 789 Don Mills Road, 15 Gervais Drive, 33 Green Belt Drive, 1123 Leslie Street, 1135 Leslie Street, 39 Wynford Drive, and 50 Wynford Drive providing City staff more time for further productive dialogue with these property owners.

City staff also received new information regarding partial demolition of the former Computer Science Canada headquarters located at 1200 Eglinton Avenue East due to structural and safety issues of the exterior building fabric. Therefore, this supplementary report also recommends that City Council amend Recommendation 1 of the report to exclude 1200 Eglinton Avenue East from the original list of 16 properties recommended for inclusion on the Heritage Register.