Item - 2021.IE20.11

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council authorize the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure and Development Services, to work with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and Waterfront Toronto, to finalize the Environmental Study Report and issue a Notice of Study Completion for the Broadview and Eastern Flood Protection Project Municipal Class Environmental Assessment, to be placed on the public record for minimum 30 day review period in accordance with Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (2015) requirements for Schedule C projects.

2. City Council request the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure and Development Services to initiate cost-sharing and implementation discussions with stakeholders based on the phased implementation options outlined in the Broadview and Eastern Flood Protection Project Municipal Class Environmental Assessment, and report back to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee in fourth quarter of 2021 with a funding and implementation strategy.

This report provides an update on the completion of the Broadview and Eastern Flood Protection Municipal Class Environmental Assessment, with a Preferred Alternative for flood protection that achieves the goals of the project. The Preferred Alternative is a flood protection landform along the east side of the Don Valley Parkway and Don River. This environmental assessment is a joint project of the City of Toronto, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and Waterfront Toronto.

This report also describes a phased implementation strategy where flood protection is realized for the bulk of the study area in Phase One while maintaining the existing business at 1-9 Sunlight Park Road. Phase Two could be completed at a later date by the landowner to achieve the full development potential of the property.

The project Study Area, shown in Attachment 1, is 8 hectares (20 acres) of land just east of the Don River, south of Eastern Avenue and north of the Metrolinx Lakeshore East rail embankment. The primary land-owners in the area, as identified in Attachment 2, are the City of Toronto (streets), Metrolinx (rail corridor) and the Talisker Corporation. Talisker owns a number of properties in the study area including 1-9 Sunlight Park Road, which houses a BMW dealership, and 10-20 Sunlight Park Road, where a Mini dealership is located. Additional properties at 341, 353 and 361 Eastern Avenue are held by other private landowners. The study area is regulated by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority as Flood Plain, meaning that in the case of a Hurricane Hazel-level Regulatory Flood, water would overflow the banks of the Don River and flood the study area. The lands are designated in the former City of Toronto Official Plan (1994) as Lower Don Special Policy Area, which limits intensified development and requires flood proofing. 

The Broadview and Eastern Flood Protection Preferred Alternative would be the third and final component of flood protection in this area of Toronto. Previously, the Lower Don River West Remedial Flood Protection project was completed in 2012, protecting the West Don Lands neighbourhoods and parts of the city's downtown. The Port Lands Flood Protection project, currently underway, will eliminate the flood plain for lands to the south and east of the project site.

The 8 hectares (20 acres) of land in the Broadview and Eastern study area were not included in the Port Lands Flood Protection project because the land is primarily under private ownership and there was little development pressure in the area during the project's environmental assessment study process - a ten year process completed in 2015 as the Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Environmental Assessment.

The vision for the future of the study area and adjacent lands has evolved considerably in recent years and flood protection is now a required piece of enabling infrastructure to support a regional employment and transit hub. This new vision has been developed through several initiatives, including the Unilever Precinct Planning Study, resulting in a Secondary Plan, East Harbour Zoning By-law, and related ongoing development approvals processes. Intersecting with these plans are those related to the future integrated SmartTrack and Ontario Line transit hub. 

The Preferred Alternative for the Broadview and Eastern Flood Protection Environmental Assessment is one that would support the vision that has emerged for the area. A flood protection landform would extend from Eastern Avenue south along the east side of the Don Valley Parkway and Don River to the Metrolinx Lakeshore East rail embankment­ (see Attachment 7).  The flood protection landform has been designed to minimize the amount of land required, while meeting technical engineering design requirements. The northern portion of the landform would be located on public land, while the southern portion would be located on 1-9 Sunlight Park Road. Implementation of the full flood protection landform through this private land would ultimately require the removal of the existing commercial building on 1-9 Sunlight Park Road.

The environmental assessment report describes different implementation alternatives, including a phasing approach that would significantly reduce near-term land and business interruption costs by preserving the existing business at 1-9 Sunlight Park Road while providing immediate flood protection benefits. Phase One of this strategy is presented in Attachment 8. In this phase, the northern and southern portions of the flood protection landform would be fully constructed, while the land around the building at 1-9 Sunlight Park Road would be re-graded to ensure that flood waters would not flow east of the site's parking lot.  This could be implemented in the near-term and would facilitate the removal of the Special Policy Area designation for most of the study area while the existing business remains in place.

In Phase Two of implementation, the middle portion of the flood protection landform would be completed on privately-owned lands, consistent with the environmental assessment's Preferred Alternative. This work could be done by the owners of 1-9 Sunlight Park Road and would include the removal of the existing commercial building. There is currently no timeline for this phase. It could be implemented by the landowner as a component of a potential future development project. The landowner could also choose to leave the lands within the flood plain for the foreseeable future and operate businesses that are consistent with the property's existing development permissions.

The benefits of implementing the recommended environmental assessment Preferred Alternative are outlined below. Almost all of these benefits are realized in Phase One of the phased implementation strategy:

- Enabling future development of the East Harbour site consistent with the Unilever Precinct Secondary Plan, East Harbour Zoning Bylaw and ongoing development approval processes;

- Enabling a variety of potential design solutions for the integrated East Harbour SmartTrack and Ontario Line transit hub;

- Enabling future development on privately-owned lands north of the Metrolinx Lakeshore East rail embankment;

- Enabling the Broadview Extension and associated streetcar route to penetrate the rail embankment and move south into the Unilever Precinct;

- Protection of existing residents and businesses;

- Through the phased implementation approach, cost-savings through reduced near-term impact on the business operating at 1-9 Sunlight Park Road.
 

Staff are recommending that Council authorize staff to finalize the Broadview and Eastern Flood Protection Project Municipal Class Environmental Assessment report and place it on the public record for minimum 30 day review period in accordance with Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (2015) requirements for Schedule C projects.

The benefits of implementing the Preferred Alternative flood protection would accrue to multiple stakeholders, and, as such, there is the opportunity for project costs to be shared. Furthermore, detailed design and construction planning will require successful coordination across these projects and organizations. This report recommends that staff initiate cost-sharing negotiations with stakeholders and develop a funding and implementation strategy. Staff would also investigate opportunities to secure funding from the Federal and Provincial governments. Staff anticipate reporting back in fourth quarter of 2021.

City staff are proposing to advance work, beginning in the second quarter of 2021, on a 60 percent schematic design for the southern portion of the flood protection landform – the portion adjacent to the Metrolinx Lakeshore East rail embankment. The design process will be a joint design process with Metrolinx that includes the integrated East Harbour SmartTrack and Ontario Line transit hub. Accurate information for these pieces of infrastructure will allow them to be designed and delivered as effectively and efficiently as possible. As noted below, the cost of this work is anticipated to be accommodated through existing budgets and, potentially, through funding from the National Disaster Mitigation Program.