Item - 2022.NY29.6

North York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council refuse the application for Official Plan Amendment for the lands at 36 to 44 Eglinton Avenue West for the reasons outlined in the report (December 2, 2021) from the Director, Community Planning, North York District.

2. City Council authorize the City Solicitor, together with appropriate staff, to appear before the Ontario Land Tribunal in support of City Council’s decision to refuse the application, in the event that the Official Plan Amendment application is appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

3. In the event that the Ontario Land 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 the proposed Official Plan Amendment is in a form satisfactory to the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor.

A stand-alone Official Plan Amendment (OPA) application has been submitted as part of the development proposal for 36 to 44 Eglinton Avenue West. This application relates to Zoning By-law Amendment Application Nos. 20 165466 NNY 08 OZ and 21 101581 NNY 08 OZ, which were refused by City Council in October 2020 and March 2021, respectively, and has since been appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT). 

Those applications sought to permit a 65-storey (220 metre) mixed-use building, comprised of a 5-storey base building and 60-storey tower above. The proposal contains a total of 663 dwelling units and 550 square metres of retail and office space. The total gross floor area would be 45,112 square metres resulting in a density of 32.27 times the lot area.  The overall development proposal remains unchanged.  Further details are found in the Decision History section of the report.

This application proposes to amend the City's Official Plan to exempt the subject site from the requirement in the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan to replace the existing office gross floor area (Policy 2.5.4). The proposed OPA states:

"New development shall not be required to replace the existing office gross floor area on the site. In addition, this Site and Area Specific Policy will prevail over any Secondary Plan policy to the contrary."

The Zoning By-law amendment application proposes a total of 303.9 square metres of office space. There is currently a 7-storey building on the site with approximately 6,570 square metres of existing office space. 

Staff are recommending refusal of the application to amend the City's Official Plan. The proposed OPA is not consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (2020), does not conform with the A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2020), and does not conform to the City's Official Plan and the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan. 

The Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan (Policy 2.5.4), as approved by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing as a Minister's modification on June 5, 2019, requires the replacement of 100 percent of the existing office gross floor area on the site within a Mixed Use Areas 'A' designation. This Minister approved policy aligns with provincial policy.  

Both the PPS (2020) and the Growth Plan (2020) direct the City to accommodate an appropriate affordable and market-based range of employment (including industrial and commercial) to meet long-term needs and promote opportunities for economic development and community investment readiness. 

Therefore, for the reasons outlined in this report, it is recommended that the OPA application be refused.