Item - 2023.NY9.9

North York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council refuse the application for an Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment in its current form, for the lands municipally known as 10-18 Abitibi Avenue.

2. In the event the applications are appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal, City Council, pursuant to subsections 22(8.1) and 34(11.0.0.1) of the Planning Act, use mediation, conciliation or other dispute resolution techniques in an attempt to resolve the Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment applications, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor.

3. City Council direct the City Clerk, should an appeal be filed, to notify all persons or public bodies who may have filed an appeal to this decision of City Council’s intention to rely on subsections 22(8.1) and 34(11.0.0.1) of the Planning Act and the City Clerk shall provide notice to all prescribed persons or public bodies under subsections 22(8.2) and 34(11.0.0.2) of the Planning Act.

4. City Council direct the City Clerk, should an appeal be filed, to notify the Ontario Land Tribunal of City Council’s intention pursuant to subsections 22(8.1) and 34(11.0.0.1) of the Planning Act, and that the Ontario Land Tribunal shall receive the record, the notice of appeal and other prescribed documents and materials seventy-five (75) days after the last day for filing a notice of appeal for these matters.

5. Should the Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment applications be resolved, and there is no appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal or the appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal has been withdrawn, City Council direct the Director, North York District, Community Planning to bring forward an Approval Report to North York Community Council for a statutory public meeting as required under the Planning Act.

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

The application proposes to amend the Official Plan and Zoning By-law to permit a 50-storey (169.4 metres) mixed use building at 10-18 Abitibi Avenue. The building would contain 534 residential units and a residential gross floor area of 35,677.4 square metres, as well as 186.2 square metres of non-residential gross floor area, for a Floor Space Index of 16.2 times the lot area.

The proposed development has been determined to be not consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (2020) and does not conform with A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2020). The proposed development does not conform to the Official Plan, including the Council-adopted Yonge Street North Secondary Plan (OPA 615), which represents Council’s vision for the area.

This report reviews and recommends refusal of the application to amend the Official Plan and Zoning By-laws, particularly as it relates to the intensity of the proposed development, the proposed building massing and the impact of the proposed development on adjacent properties in the existing and planned context which may prevent an orderly development of the block. The recommendation for refusal is also based on inadequate soil volumes, unconfirmed servicing capacity, failure to provide adequate pedestrian connections to support active transportation and failure to provide an adequate tenant assistance and relocation plan. Overall, the proposed development fails to implement the vision of Official Plan Amendment 615.