Item - 2021.NY25.7

North York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council direct the City Solicitor and appropriate City Staff to attend the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) to oppose the Zoning By-law Amendment application for 50, 60 and 90 Eglinton Avenue West and 17 and 19 Henning Avenue in its current form for reasons set out in the report (May 31, 2021), from the Acting Director, Community Planning, North York District.

2. City Council authorize the City Solicitor and appropriate staff to continue discussions with the applicant in an attempt to resolve issues outlined in the report (May 31, 2021), from the Acting Director, Community Planning, North York District, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

3. In the event that the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal allows the appeals in whole or in part, City Council direct the City Solicitor to request that the Tribunal withhold its Order until such time as the Tribunal has been advised by the City Solicitor that:

a. the form and content of the Zoning By-law Amendments are satisfactory to the Acting Director, Community Planning, North York District and City Solicitor;

b. the owner has addressed the comments in the Engineering and Construction Services memo dated March 18, 2021, as applicable, to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in consultation with appropriate City Staff;

c. the owner has submitted a revised Transportation Impact Study and a Travel Demand Management (TDM) Plan acceptable to, and to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the General Manager, Transportation Services and that such matters arising from such study, be secured if required; including contribution to the expansion of the City's bike share system in the area to meet the Toronto Green Standard Version 3 requirements, as well as providing a dedicated, publicly accessible car share vehicle space and services on site;

d. the owner has submitted an updated wind study that includes a wind tunnel analysis and any associated wind mitigation measures that properly considers the surrounding context; and

e. the owner has entered into an Agreement pursuant to Section 37 of the Planning Act to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning for the purpose of securing appropriate community benefits that have been identified as being priorities through the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan, and  to be registered on title to the lands at 50, 60 and 90 Eglinton Avenue West and 17 and 19 Henning Avenue.

4. City Council authorize the City Solicitor and necessary City staff to take such necessary steps, as required, to implement the foregoing.

5. City Council request the General Manager, Toronto Water to bring forward a report at the September 13, 2021 North York Community Council meeting regarding sewer and water capacity related to this application and other recent Development Applications in the area bounded by Eglinton Avenue West to the south, north to Roselawn Road and the west side of Yonge Street to Duplex Avenue.

On December 15, 2020, an application was submitted to amend City of Toronto Zoning By-law Nos. 438-86 and 569-2013 for the sites at 50, 60 and 90 Eglinton Avenue West and 17 and 19 Henning Avenue.  The application was submitted as a revision to two previous Zoning By-law Amendment applications on the site, File Nos. 17 250825 NNY 16 OZ (50-60 Eglinton Avenue West) and 14 145916 NNY 16 OZ and 16 140393 NNY 16 OZ (90 Eglinton Avenue West and 17 to 19 Henning Avenue).   

The sites have now been consolidated under single ownership and the proposal has since been revised.  The current application proposes to increase the residential towers from 24 to 34 storeys (west tower) and 32 to 39 storeys (east tower) in height atop a 4-storey base building containing retail and office uses.  The application proposes 688 residential units and a total gross floor area of 54,806 square metres, of which 2,919 square metres is proposed for retail uses and 4,078 square metres is proposed for office uses. The resultant floor space index (FSI) would be 13.73 times the area of the lot.

On March 17, 2021, the applicant (Madison Group) appealed the Zoning By-law Amendment application to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).  The appeal was made without revisions to the original proposal and citing Council's failure to make a decision on the application within the timeframe prescribed by the Planning Act.  A Case Management Conference (CMC) has been scheduled for September 1, 2021. 

This report recommends that the City Solicitor together with City Planning staff and other appropriate staff be directed to oppose the Zoning By-law Amendment application, in its current form at the LPAT.  The proposed development does not achieve appropriate tower separation within the site.  The proposed development is not providing appropriate transition to the Neighbourhoods to the north, Eglinton Park to the north and west, the lower-scale Eglinton Park Character Area to the south and west and does not respect the existing area context.  Further, at a proposed height of 39-storeys, the east tower is beyond the anticipated 15 to 35 storey height range for the Henning Character Area and does not provide appropriate transition from the Yonge-Eglinton Crossroads Character Area. 

The application also proposes to remove the pedestrian colonnade along the south and east walls of the designated heritage building, which was provided as a Section 37 contribution as part of the previous zoning approval at 50 and 60 Eglinton Avenue West.  The pedestrian colonnade along the heritage building is an important component to the public realm, streetscape and design of the proposal and aligns with Official Plan and Secondary Plan public realm policy.  Amongst other matters, the application lacks sufficient office replacement; is not meeting the intent of the City's Growing Up Guidelines; is not providing a public laneway at the rear of the site; and does not have a satisfactory Functional Servicing Report to address servicing issues.

This report also recommends that despite the applicant's appeal of the Zoning By-law Amendment application to the LPAT, City Planning staff continue to work with the applicant's team on revisions to the application to bring forward a proposal, within the context of the ongoing Midtown Zoning Review that represents a supportable development of the site.

In its current form, the proposed development is not consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (2020) and does not conform with A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2020).  Additionally, it does not conform to the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan.