Item - 2020.SC12.5

Scarborough Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council direct the City Solicitor, together with appropriate staff and/or external consultants as may be appropriate, to attend the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal ("LPAT") hearing to support the applicant's appeal respecting the Official Plan Amendment application (Application No. 15 258686 ESC 37 OZ), for the lands at 1966 - 2050 Eglinton Avenue East and 50 Thermos Road up to a maximum gross Floor Space Index ("FSI") of 3.0 times the area of the site, subject to the resolution of the matters contained in the report (December 20, 2019), from the Director, Community Planning, Scarborough District, including the identification of: new public streets; accommodating the required widening along Eglinton Avenue East; providing the required parkland dedication; improving the site organization and built form, providing office uses, providing a minimum 20 per cent of affordable housing required by policy 3.2.1.9, and providing of a minimum of one community facility on site.

2. City Council authorize the City Solicitor and appropriate City Staff to continue discussions with the applicant and resolve outstanding issues detailed in the report (December 20, 2019) from the Director, Community Planning, Scarborough District regarding 1966-2050 Eglinton Avenue East and 50 Thermos Road, and report back to City Council on the outcome of discussions, if necessary.

3. In the event that the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal ("LPAT") allows the appeal in whole or in part, City Council direct the City Solicitor to request the LPAT to withhold the issuance of any Orders on the Official Plan Amendment appeal for the subject lands until such time as: the LPAT has been advised by the City Solicitor that the proposed Official Plan Amendment is in a form and with content satisfactory to the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor.

This application proposes to amend the Official Plan to add a Site and Area Specific Policy ("SASP") for the lands at 1966-2050 Eglinton Avenue East and 50 Thermos Road (RioCan lands) to permit a mixed-use development with new streets and parkland.  The SASP would provide for a mixed-use community that would include a range of building heights, approximately 3,000 residential units (242,000 square metres of residential uses) and 58,000 square metres of non-residential uses, with a gross Floor Space Index ("FSI") of up to 2.8 times the area of the site, for a total of 300,000 square metres of gross floor area. Attachments 6 and 7 provides for conceptual 3D models that render densities that range from 2.8 to 3.3 times the area of the site.  The subject lands are located within the Golden Mile Secondary Plan study area. 

The Official Plan Amendment application was submitted on November 30, 2015, and has been appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board ("OMB"), now the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal ("LPAT") citing City Council's failure to make a decision within the prescribed time frames set out in the Planning Act.  The appeal was filed on November 24, 2017.

The purpose of this report is to seek City Council's direction for the City Solicitor, together with appropriate City staff and/or external consultants, to attend the LPAT hearing to support the application up to a maximum gross FSI of 3.0 times the area of the site.  While the proposed SASP only requests 2.8 times FSI, City staff can support a higher density of up to 3.0 FSI on the site, subject to resolving issues related to land use, site organization, built form, and the overall structure of the proposed SASP. The revised density would be more aligned with the direction and vision of the proposed Golden Mile Secondary Plan, including the GMSP consultant's reports. City staff will utilize the GMSP consultants' recommendations for the broader Golden Mile area when reviewing the outstanding concerns for the subject site. 

The GMSP consultants Transportation Master Plan ("TMP"), Community Infrastructure Strategy and the Master Servicing Plan ("MSP") provide information to assist with the direction on how growth can be accommodated within the Golden Mile Area.  These studies will also be used to inform the emerging policy direction in the proposed Golden Mile Secondary Plan, as presented in the report dated December 20, 2019, and being considered at the January 8, 2020 Scarborough Community Council meeting.  Absent resolving the key structuring elements to create a complete community, the proposed Official Plan Amendment is not consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS 2014), do not conform with the Growth Plan (2019), and do not conform to the City's Official Plan.

This report also recommends that the City Solicitor and appropriate City staff be authorized to continue discussions with the applicant in an effort to address the issues outlined in this report.