Item - 2023.NY8.5

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 current applicant regarding the Zoning By-law Amendment appeal for the lands at 1265 Wilson Avenue, and to continue discussions with the applicant in an attempt to resolve the outstanding issues detailed in this report.

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

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

b. the Owner has submitted a revised Functional Servicing Report, including a Stormwater Management Report and Hydrogeological Report, to determine whether there is adequate capacity in the existing municipal infrastructure to accommodate the proposed development, and to address all the matters in the Engineering and Construction Services Memorandum dated January 16, 2023, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and  Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services and the General Manager, Transportation Services;

c. the Owner has made satisfactory arrangements with Engineering and Construction Services and entered into the appropriate agreement with the City for the design and construction of any improvements to the municipal infrastructure, should it be determined that upgrades are required to the infrastructure to support this development, according to the accepted Functional Servicing Report accepted by the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services;

d. the Owner has submitted a revised Transportation Demand Management Plan to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the General Manager, Transportation Services, and that such matters arising from this Plan be secured, if required;

e. the Owner has addressed matters from the Strategic Initiatives, Policy and Analysis Section of City Planning Memorandum dated February 8, 2023, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

f. the Owner has addressed matters from the Urban Forestry Memorandum dated January 9, 2023 to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and  Recreation;

g. the Owner has submitted an updated complete Toronto Green Standards Checklist and Statistics Template, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

h. the Owner has provided space within the development for the installation of maintenance access holes and sampling ports on the private side, as close to the property line as possible, for both the storm and sanitary service connections, in accordance with the Sewers By-law chapter 681.10.b;

i. the Owner has secured replacement of the existing rental housing, including the same number of units, bedroom type and size and with similar rents;

j. the Owner has secured an acceptable Tenant Relocation and Assistance Plan addressing the right for existing tenants to return to a replacement rental unit on the lands at similar rents, the provision of alternative accommodation at similar rents, and other assistance to lessen hardship, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning; and

k. City Council has approved the Rental Housing Demolition Application Number 21 219452 NNY 06 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 the sixty-one (61) existing rental dwelling units at 1265 Wilson Avenue and the Owner has entered into, and registered on title to the lands, one or more agreements with the City to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor, securing all rental housing-related matters necessary to implement City Council’s decision.

3. 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 agreements(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 and General Manager, Transportation Services.

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

On November 1, 2021, a Zoning By-law Amendment application was submitted to permit a residential  building with 12-storeys (38.2 metres without a mechanical penthouse) along the Wilson Avenue frontage and a 25-storey (78.8 meter) residential building (plus a 6.0 metre mechanical penthouse) at the south end of the site. The 12-storey element on Wilson Avenue would be connected with the tower at the south end with other building elements of varying heights.

There is a 4-storey rental building on the site containing 61 residential rental units which would be demolished and are proposed to be replaced within the new development. This is subject to the related Rental Housing Demolition application 21 219452 NNY 06 RH.

A Preliminary Report dated November 30, 2021 was considered by North York Community Council on January 6, 2022 and adopted with amendments. The motion indicated that staff would not schedule a community consultation meeting for the application until the applicant had an opportunity to modify their application in keeping with initial guidance from Community Planning while considering the adjacent active development application at 1277 Wilson Avenue and striving for better adherence to the Mid-Rise Building guidelines and conducting additional discussions with both staff and the local councillor.

On December 9, 2022, a revised proposal was submitted which proposed 11-storeys (35.285 metres without a mechanical penthouse) along the Wilson Avenue frontage with a 27-storey (85.485 metre) building plus a 6.0 metre mechanical penthouse at the south end of the site. The 11-storey element on Wilson Avenue would be connected with the tower at the south end with three other building elements of varying heights (12-storeys plus mechanical penthouse (44.985 metre), 12-storeys (39.785 metre) and 5-storeys (16.785 metre). The revised proposal would have an overall gross floor area of 45,745 square metres above grade and 3 levels of a below-grade parking structure. A total of 559 residential units would be proposed in the revised proposal, with 61 of those units being rental replacement units.

On June 30, 2023, the Applicant appealed the Zoning By-law Amendment application to the Ontario Land Tribunal due to City Council not making a decision within the 120-day time frame in the Planning Act. A Case Management Conference has been scheduled for September 27, 2023.

This report provides an update on the proposal and the outstanding issues. The report recommends that the City Solicitor along with the appropriate City Staff attend the Ontario Land Tribunal hearing and continues to oppose the application in its current form and to continue discussions with the Applicant to resolve outstanding issues.