Item - 2023.PH4.7

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Directed the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to undertake public and stakeholder consultation on both the Draft Performance Standards contained in Attachment 1 to the report (May 17, 2023) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, as well as other Performance Standards in the existing Mid-Rise Buildings Performance Standards, in the third and fourth quarter of 2023 and report back with final recommendations on the Rear Transition Performance Standards, as well as any additional feedback from the consultation by November 30, 2023.

2. Directed the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, as part of stakeholder consultation on the Mid-Rise Buildings Performance Standards, engage with CreateTO to incorporate any lessons learned from the Mass Timber Pilot Program into the updated Mid-Rise Design Guidelines.

At its meeting of December 14 – 15, 2022, Council directed the City Manager to develop a "2023 Housing Action Plan”, inclusive of a direction to "…review the City's urban design guidelines, heritage standards and urban forestry policies to ensure they align with the priority of optimizing the delivery [of] housing opportunities for a range of housing forms". Direction for work in response to these recommendations also emphasized furthering "Toronto’s climate goals and good planning, including enhancing the public realm…".

In response to this and the other items outlined in the Housing Action Plan recommendations, City Planning has initiated a review of the Mid-Rise Building Performance Standards, focussing on the existing Performance Standards for Rear Transitions (5A through 5D). This focussed review of these four Performance Standards identified that providing flexibility in the rear transition of these building types to adjoining areas creates additional opportunities to further facilitate development of mid-rise buildings. Further facilitating development in a mid-rise building form will support increased housing supply in walkable, complete communities, while providing a wider range of housing options to address current housing challenges without compromising the needs of future generations.

The draft updates to Performance Standards for rear transition, recommended to be used as the basis for consultation, provide alternative approaches to rear transition for a variety of adjacent conditions. The draft updates continue to provide transition in built form as directed by the Built Form policies and other development criteria set out in the Official Plan, but with alternative approaches that would reduce or eliminate the continuous step-backs that have often been the result of applying the rear angular plane in the existing Performance Standards. These changes will allow for more regular floorplates, improve constructability, and allow for development in a mid-rise form on some shallow sites that under the existing Performance Standards, would not have accommodated a mid-rise scale of development. The draft updates encourage a mid-rise form that supports generous sunlight on adjacent sidewalks and the public realm, while also balancing transition to various rear conditions and supporting intensification through flexibility in built form massing.

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the work to-date on the review of the Performance Standards for Rear Transitions, present draft updates to these Performance Standards, and outline next steps for further engagement and coordination with other work programs.