Item - 2022.TE32.12

The Toronto and East York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council direct the City Solicitor and appropriate City staff to attend the Ontario Land Tribunal in support of the revised Zoning By-law Amendment application for the lands at 137-149 Church Street as generally described in the report (April 1, 2022) from the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District.

2. In the event that the Ontario Land Tribunal allows the appeals in whole or in part, City Council authorize the City Solicitor to request that the issuance of any final Order(s) be withheld until such time as the City Solicitor advises that:

1. the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment is in a final form and content satisfactory to the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor; and
    
2. the owner has entered into a Section 37 agreement satisfactory to the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor and has been executed and registered on title to the lands to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor, securing the benefits and various matters required to support the development.

3. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to enter into an agreement pursuant to Section 37 of the Planning Act, securing the following community benefits as follows:

1. a cash contribution in the amount of six million and five hundred thousand ($6,500,000.00) dollars allocated as follows within the local ward:
   
   
   1. two million dollars ($2,000,000.00) directed towards eligible cultural, community and recreation space;       
      
      
   2. two million dollars ($2,000,000.00) directed towards new affordable housing;
      
      
   3. two million dollars ($2,000,000.00) directed towards local streetscape improvements and park improvements; and
      
      
   4. five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00) be directed towards public art;
      
      
2. the cash contribution referred to in Recommendation 3 a. above shall be  indexed upwardly in accordance with the Statistics Canada Residential or Non-Residential, as the case may be, Building Construction Price Index for the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area, reported quarterly by Statistics Canada in Building Construction Price Indexes Table: 18-10-0135, or its successor, calculated from the date of the Agreement to the date of payment;
   
   
3. in the event the cash contribution referred to in Recommendation 3 a. above cannot be directed for the determined purpose within three years of the amending Zoning By-law coming into full force and effect, the amount of funds allocated towards a community benefit may be redirected for another purpose, at the discretion of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in consultation with the Ward Councillor, provided the purpose is identified in Official Plan Policy 5.1.1 and will benefit the community in the vicinity of the lands;

4. City Council direct that the following matters are also to be secured in the Section 37 Agreement as matters required to support the development of the lands, including:

1. prior to the issuance of the first building permit on the site, the owner shall provide confirmation from the St. Michael's Hospital, or their representative, that any temporary (including construction cranes or related construction machinery) and permanent structures are below or outside the protected flight path, as per By-law 1432-2017, to the satisfaction Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building;
   
   
2. the owner will construct and maintain the development of the site in accordance with Tier 1, Toronto Green Standard, and the owner will be encouraged to achieve Tier 2, Toronto Green Standard, or higher, where appropriate, consistent with the performance standards of Toronto Green Standards applicable at the time of the site plan application for each building on the site;
   
   
3. requirements for a construction management plan with the general matters included in the Section 37 Agreement, including but not limited to, noise, dust, size and location of staging areas, location and function of gates, dates of significant concrete pouring, lighting details, vehicular parking and queuing locations, street closures, coordination with adjacent on-going development construction, parking and laneways uses and access, refuse storage, site security, site supervisor contact information, and a communication strategy with the surrounding community, and any other matters requested by the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with the Ward Councillor;
   
   
4. as part of Site Plan approval, that the owner has, at its sole cost and expense:
   
   
   1. secured the design and the provision of financial securities for any upgrades or required improvements to the existing municipal infrastructure and/or new municipal infrastructure identified in the accepted engineering reports to support the development  should it be determined that improvements or upgrades and/or new infrastructure are required to support the development satisfactory to the Chief Engineer and Executive Director Engineering and Construction Services and City Solicitor;
      
      
   2. made satisfactory arrangements with Chief Engineer and Executive Director Engineering and Construction Services for the construction of new infrastructure or any improvements to the existing municipal infrastructure, should it be determined that new infrastructure and/or upgrades/improvements are required to the existing infrastructure, to support this development, and that the applicant has entered into a financially secured agreement to pay for and construct any necessary municipal infrastructure;
      
      
5. as part of the Site Plan application, the owner shall, at their sole cost and expense, implement any required wind mitigation measures in the accepted Wind Study to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning

5. City Council authorize the City Solicitor and City staff to take any necessary steps to implement the recommendations above.

On June 8, 2018, a Zoning By-law Amendment application was submitted to permit a 49-storey mixed use development at 139-149 Church Street.  The application was revised to include the property at 137 Church Street and now proposes on a larger site a 54-storey mixed use development with ground floor commercial uses, 469 dwelling units with a total gross floor area of 31,688 square metres. The proposed building would have a height of 173.51 metres including the mechanical penthouse.

On September 1, 2021 the applicant appealed the application to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) due to Council not making a decision within the 120-day time frame under the Planning Act.

This report recommends that the City Solicitor with the appropriate City staff attend the OLT hearing to support the application in its current form and to continue discussions with the applicant to resolve any issues should they arise.