Item - 2023.PH7.16

The Planning and Housing Committee recommends that:

1. City Council refuse the application to amend the Sign By-law to add an area-specific amendment to Schedule 'B' of Chapter 694, Signage Master Plans and Area-Specific Amendments, to replace the existing Sign By-law regulations concerning third party signs applicable to the premises municipally known as 496 Evans Avenue with regulations to allow for, and regulate, a single third party electronic ground sign, as described in Attachment 1 of the report (September 28, 2023) from the Acting Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building.

Toronto's Sign By-law is a harmonized, City-wide set of regulations governing signs which was adopted in 2010. The Sign By-law contains a process for any member of the public to apply to City Council to amend the Sign By-law to implement significant changes to the sign regulations for a specific property or area. Applications are commonly made requesting amendments to the Sign By-law to allow signs that are prohibited, to remove permissions for signs in an area, or to modify the administrative requirements of the Sign By-law. The Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building ("CBO") brings applications to amend the Sign By-law together on an annual basis for City Council consideration, so that that City Council can more easily assess the overall and cumulative impact of these applications on the city's built environment, and the Sign By-law itself.

496 Evans Avenue (the “Subject Premises”) is located within one of 84 areas throughout the city where City Council has determined that no third-party signs should be permitted, and that signage should be restricted to first-party signs only. The Bader Group Inc (the “Applicant”) has been authorized by the property owner, Mersen Canada DN Ltd, to make an application (the “Proposed Amendment”) asking City Council to replace the current regulations applicable to the Subject Premises, which prohibit any third-party signs from being erected and displayed, with regulations to allow for, and regulate, a third-party electronic sign (the “Proposed Sign”).

The Proposed Amendment would not only allow for a third-party sign in an area where City Council has specifically enacted a regulation stating no third-party signs would be appropriate but would establish unique regulations for the Proposed Sign. These regulations would allow it to be more than three times larger than what is generally allowed for third-party ground signs and to have a height exceeding, by more than fifty percent, the height that electronic ground signs are generally permitted to have by the Sign By-law.

The Proposed Amendment would further alter the regulations in the Sign By-law concerning the sign permit term to allow the Proposed Sign to be issued a sign permit with an initial term of ten years, which is double the permit length for other third-party signs set out in the Sign By-law. Additionally, it would allow the Proposed Sign to have faces displayed in a “v-shaped” configuration, rather than the generally permitted “back-to-back” configuration.

Not only would the Proposed Amendment allow the Proposed Sign to be located within an area where City Council has determined that no third-party signs should be displayed, but it would also allow for a third-party electronic ground sign to face Open Space (“OS”) and Residential (“R”) sign districts located within 250 meters. This is contrary to the minimum separation distances required by the Sign By-law.

Toronto Building, in consultation with City Planning and Transportation Services, conducted a thorough review of the Application, and the supporting material. It is the opinion of the CBO that the Proposed Amendment, which would allow for and regulate the Proposed Sign, is not consistent with the objectives of the Sign By-law, or the specific regulations enacted for the Subject Premises and surrounding area. Therefore, CBO does not support Council approval of the Proposed Amendment.