Item - 2023.NY8.10

North York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council amend City of Toronto Zoning By-law 569-2013 for the lands at 48 Grenoble Drive substantially in accordance with the draft Zoning By-law Amendment attached as Revised Attachment 5 to the motion by Councillor Jon Burnside.

2. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make such stylistic and technical changes to the Zoning By-law Amendments as may be required.

3. City Council require the Owner to enter into an Agreement as follows:

a. securing a privately owned privately owned publicly-accessible spaces ("POPS"), having a minimum total area of 540 square metres at grade at the southern end of the site between the towers, as generally identified on Attachment 6 to this report, with the specific design of the POPS and any associated easements and improvements to be determined as part of the Site Plan Approval process for this site, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning. The privately owned publicly-accessible spaces easement shall include provisions for rights of support, if necessary, and insurance and indemnification of the City by the owner, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and the City Solicitor.

4. City Council approve the Rental Housing Demolition application File Number 22 127161 NNY 16 RH in accordance with Chapter 667 of the Toronto Municipal Code pursuant to Section 111 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 which allows for the demolition of one hundred nine (109) existing rental dwelling units located at 48 Grenoble Drive, subject to the following conditions:

a. the owner shall provide and maintain at least one hundred ten (110) replacement rental dwelling units on the subject site for a period of at least 20 years beginning from the date that each replacement rental dwelling unit is first occupied. During such 20-year period, no application may be submitted to the City for condominium registration, or for any other conversion to a non-rental housing purpose, or for demolition without providing for replacement. The replacement rental dwelling units shall collectively have a total gross floor area of at least 8,289 square metres (89,222 square feet) and be comprised of at least fifty-one (51) one-bedroom units and fifty-nine (59) two-bedroom units as generally illustrated in the Floor Plans submitted to the City Planning Division dated September 22, 2023. Any revisions to these plans shall be to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division;

b. the Owner shall, as part of the one hundred ten (110) replacement rental dwelling units required in Recommendation 4.a above, provide at least thirty-two (32) one-bedroom units and forty-five (45) two-bedroom units at affordable rents, five (5) one-bedroom units at mid-range (affordable) rents, and up to fourteen (14) one-bedroom units and fourteen (14) two-bedroom units at mid-range (moderate) rents, as currently defined in the City's Official Plan, all for a period of at least ten (10) years beginning from the date of first occupancy of each unit;

c. any replacement rental dwelling units provided in the proposed residential development in addition to the minimum one hundred ten (110) replacement rental dwelling units required in Recommendation 4.a above, shall be secured at affordable rents as currently defined in the Official Plan, for a period of at least ten (10) years beginning from the date of the first occupancy of each unit;

d. the Owner shall provide an acceptable Tenant Relocation and Assistance Plan to all Eligible Tenants of the one hundred nine (109) existing rental units proposed to be demolished at 48 Grenoble Drive, addressing the right to return to occupy one of the replacement rental dwelling units at similar rents, the provision of rent gap assistance, and other assistance to lessen hardship. The Tenant Relocation and Assistance Plan shall be developed in consultation with, and to the satisfaction of, the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division;

e. the Owner shall provide tenant assistance to all Post Application Tenants, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division;

f. the Owner shall provide tenants of all replacement rental dwelling units with access to, and use of, all indoor and outdoor amenities in the proposed residential building on the same terms and conditions as any other resident of the podium and West Tower, without the need to pre-book or pay a fee unless specifically required as a customary practice for private bookings;

g. the Owner shall provide ensuite laundry in each replacement rental dwelling unit within the proposed residential building at no extra charge;

h. the Owner shall provide central air conditioning in each replacement rental dwelling unit within the proposed residential building at no extra charge;

i. the Owner shall provide and make available for rent for tenants of the replacement rental dwelling units nineteen (19) vehicle parking spaces or such number as would reflect the same rate of vehicle parking spaces per dwelling unit as provided for the rest of the dwelling units in the proposed residential building. The terms and conditions for renting vehicle parking spaces to tenants of the replacement rental dwelling units shall be to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division;

j. the Owner shall provide tenants of all replacement rental dwelling units with access to bicycle and visitor parking on the same terms and conditions as any other resident of the proposed residential building, except as otherwise required by the Tenant Relocation and Assistance Plan;

k. the replacement rental dwelling units required in recommendation 4.a above shall be made ready and available for occupancy no later than the date by which 70 percent of the new dwelling units in the proposed residential building, exclusive of the replacement rental dwelling units, are made available and ready for occupancy, subject to any revisions to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division; and

l. the Owner shall enter into, and register on title to the lands at 48 Grenoble Drive, an agreement pursuant to Section 111 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 to secure the conditions outlined in Recommendations 4.a through 4.k above, all to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division, prior to issuance of Notice of Approval Conditions for site plan approval by the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning or their designate pursuant to Section 114 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006.

5. City Council authorize the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to issue Preliminary Approval of the Rental Housing Demolition Permit under Chapter 667 of the Toronto Municipal Code pursuant to Section 111 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 for the demolition of one hundred nine (109) rental dwelling units at 48 Grenoble Drive after all the following have occurred:

a. all conditions in Recommendation 4 above have been fully satisfied and secured;

b. the Zoning By-law Amendments have come into full force and effect;

c. the issuance of the Notice of Approval Conditions for site plan approval by the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning or their designate pursuant to Section 114 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006; 

d. the issuance of excavation and shoring permits (conditional or full permits) for the approved development on the site; and

e. the owner has confirmed, in writing, that all existing rental dwelling units proposed to be demolished are vacant.

6. City Council authorize the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building to issue a Rental Housing Demolition Permit under Chapter 667 of the Toronto Municipal Code after the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division has given the Preliminary Approval referred to in Recommendation 5 above.

7. City Council authorize the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building Division to issue a Residential Demolition Permit under Section 33 of the Planning Act and Chapter 363 of the Toronto Municipal Code for 48 Grenoble Drive after the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division has given the Preliminary Approval referred to in Recommendation 5 above, which may be included in the Rental Housing Demolition Permit under Chapter 667 pursuant to section 6.2 of Chapter 363, on condition that:

a. The owner removes all debris and rubble from the site immediately after demolition;

b. The owner erects solid construction hoarding to the satisfaction of the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building;

c. The owner erects the proposed building no later than three (3) years from the date on which the demolition of the existing rental dwelling units commences, subject to the time frame being extended at the discretion of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning; and,

d. Should the owner fail to complete the proposed building within the time specified in Recommendation 7.c. above, the City Clerk shall be entitled to enter on the collector’s roll, as with municipal property taxes, an amount equal to the sum of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00) per dwelling unit for which a demolition permit is issued, and that such amount shall, until payment, be a lien or charge upon the land for which the Residential Demolition Permit is issued.

8. City Council approve that in accordance with Section 42 of the Planning Act prior to the first above grade building permit, the Owner shall convey to the City, an on-site parkland dedication, having a minimum size of 676 square metres, to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation ("PFR") and the City Solicitor.

9. City Council approve the acceptance of on-site parkland dedication, subject to the owner transferring the parkland to the City free and clear, above and below grade, of all easements, encumbrances, and encroachments, in an acceptable environmental condition; the owner may propose the exception of encumbrances of tiebacks, where such an encumbrance is deemed acceptable by the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, in consultation with the City Solicitor; and such an encumbrance will be subject to the payment of compensation to the City, in an amount as determined by the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation and the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management.

10. City Council approve a development charge credit against the Parks and Recreation component of the Development Charges for the design and construction by the Owner of the Above Base Park Improvements to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation. The development charge credit shall be in an amount that is the lesser of the cost to the Owner of designing and constructing the Above Base Park Improvements, as approved by the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, and the Parks and Recreation component of development charges payable for the development in accordance with the City's Development Charges By-law, as may be amended from time to time.

11. City Council authorize the City Solicitor and any other City staff to take such actions as are necessary to implement City Council's decision, including execution of the Section 111 agreement and other related agreements.

The North York Community Council held a statutory public meeting on October 17, 2023, and notice was given in accordance with the Planning Act.

North York Community Council requested the Applicant, in consultation with City Planning Staff, to organize an additional consultation meeting with tenants of 48 Grenoble Drive together with the Ward Councillor prior to the November 8, 2023 City Council meeting and report directly to the November 8, 9 and 10, 2023 City Council meeting on the consultation meeting, if necessary.

This application proposes to amend the Zoning By-law for the lands at 48 Grenoble Drive. The applicant proposes to demolish the existing 9-storey residential building containing 109 rental dwelling units and redevelop the lands with 45 (148.4 metre) and 43-storey (142.4 metre) towers connected by a 6-storey (23.8 metre) podium with on-site public parkland dedication and a privately-owned publicly-accessible space. The proposed development would contain 1,054 residential units of which 110 units would be rental replacement units, with a total gross floor area of 80,224 square metres resulting in a density ("FSI") of 11.9 times the area of the lot. The proposal includes 204 square metres of non-residential use that will service the needs of area residents.

The proposed replacement rental dwelling units will be secured at affordable and mid-range (affordable), and mid-range (moderate) rents. The proposal also includes a Tenant Relocation and Assistance Plan that addresses the right of existing eligible tenants to return to a replacement rental dwelling unit at similar rent and financial compensation to lessen hardship.

The proposed development is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (2020) and conforms with A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2020). The proposal also conforms to the City of Toronto Official Plan.

This report reviews and recommends approval of the application to amend the Zoning By-law and the Rental Housing Demolition Application at 48 Grenoble Drive. The proposed development represents an appropriate level of intensification on the site and provides for amenity improvements for existing residents and the surrounding community.