Item - 2023.NY5.9

North York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council direct the City Solicitor and appropriate City staff to attend the Ontario Land Tribunal in opposition to the Zoning By-law Amendment for the lands at 586 Eglinton Avenue East.

2. In the event that the Ontario Land Tribunal allows the Zoning By-law appeal in whole or in part, City Council authorize the City Solicitor to request that the issuance of any final Orders be withheld until such time as the City Solicitor advises that:

a. the final form and content of the draft Zoning By-law Amendment is to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

b. the owner has submitted a Methane Gas Investigation Report acceptable to, and to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services, and that such matters arising from such study be secured to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services if required;

c. the owner has submitted a revised pedestrian level wind study, including the identification of any required mitigation measures to be secured in the zoning by-law amendment and through the site plan control process, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

d. the owner has submitted an updated complete Toronto Green Standards (TGS) Checklist and Statistics Template, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

e. the owner has submitted a revised Travel Demand Management Plan acceptable to, and to the satisfaction of, the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the General Manager, Transportation Services; and

f. the owner has satisfactorily addressed the matters in the Engineering and Construction Services Memorandum dated May 30, 2022, or as may be updated, in response to further submissions filed by the owner, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director of Engineering and Construction Services, and the General Manager, Transportation Services.

3. Should it be determined that upgrades are required to municipal infrastructure to support the development according to the accepted Functional Servicing Report and / or that mitigation is required per the Subsurface Investigation, City Council direct the City Solicitor and appropriate City staff to request that a Holding provision (“H”) be included in the final form of the site-specific Zoning By-law Amendment, not to be lifted until such time as the owner has made satisfactory arrangements, including entering into appropriate agreement(s) with the City for required mitigation, as well as the design and construction of any improvements to the municipal infrastructure and the provision of financial securities to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services.

4. City Council authorize the City Solicitor and appropriate City staff to continue discussions with the applicant to address outstanding issues, including but not limited to those outlined in this report.

5. City Council authorize the City Solicitor and City staff to take any necessary steps to implement City Council's decision.

On September 29, 2021, an application to amend the Zoning By-law was submitted to permit a 32-storey (108 metres, excluding mechanical penthouse) building with 249 dwelling units, 651 square metres of at-grade retail uses, and 4,021 square metres of office uses. The Zoning By-law Amendment application was deemed complete on December 9, 2021.  A site plan control application was also submitted on November 12, 2021 and deemed complete on November 17, 2021.

On November 30, 2022, the applicant appealed the Zoning By-law and Site Plan Control applications to the Ontario Land Tribunal due to Council not making a decision within the respective 90-day and 30-day time frames in the Planning Act. A first case management conference took place on April 13, 2023, and a seven day hearing on the Zoning By-law amendment appeal has been scheduled to commence on April 2, 2024. A second case management conference has been scheduled for June 26, 2023, at which time it is anticipated that a Procedural Order with Issues List will be finalized. It is anticipated that the hearing will address the appeal on the Zoning By-law application. The appeal regarding the Site Plan application will be held in abeyance pending the outcome of the Zoning By-law Amendment appeal.

This report recommends that City Council instruct the City Solicitor with the appropriate City staff to attend the Ontario Land Tribunal hearing and oppose the application in its current form and to continue discussions with the Applicant to resolve outstanding issues.