Item - 2021.PH24.10

The Planning and Housing Committee:  

1. Received the report (May 27, 2021) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning for information.

At its meeting of March 26, 2018, Council directed City Planning to use the Townhouse and Low-Rise Apartment Guidelines ("the Guidelines") in the evaluation and advancement of development applications for townhouses and low-rise apartments. At that meeting, Council also directed staff to monitor development applications for these building types for at least two years to measure the effectiveness of the Guidelines.

The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the monitoring of the Guidelines, with a focus on how their use through the development application review process has influenced the design outcomes of new townhouses and low-rise apartments, as well as information on how many, what type and where these applications have been made.

Since March 26, 2018, when the Guidelines were adopted by Council, until December 31, 2020, there have been 107 planning applications for which the Guidelines were used as part of the application review process (i.e. Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment and/or Site Plan Approval applications). Monitoring indicates that the Guidelines are working well, and have been effective in positively influencing the design of townhouse and low-rise apartment building applications to achieve the Public Realm and Built Form policies of the Official Plan. The application of the guidelines has proven informative, but not determinative, promoting a consistent approach to design issues, while also allowing for flexibility in their application across the city, by land use designation, building type, lot size and surrounding context. The monitoring has reinforced their importance and usefulness and no revisions to the Guidelines are recommended by staff at this time.