Item - 2023.PH7.17

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 82 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard with regulations to allow for, and regulate, a single third party electronic ground sign, as described in Attachment 1 of the report (October 12, 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.

82 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard (the “Premises”) is located within one of 84 areas throughout the city where City Council has determined that third-party signs should not be permitted and where signage should be restricted to first-party signs only. On behalf of 2034038 Ontario Limited (the “Property Owner”), Pattison Outdoor Advertising (the “Applicant”) is making an application (the “Proposed Amendment”) to City Council. The purpose of this application is to replace the existing regulations applicable to the Premises with area-specific regulations.

These new regulations 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 ("the Proposed Sign"), but they would also establish unique regulations for the Proposed Sign. If approved, the Proposed Sign would be more than three times larger than what is generally allowed for third-party ground signs. Additionally, it would have a height approximately fifty percent taller than the maximum height typically permitted where such signs are allowed to be erected and displayed by the Sign By-law. The Proposed Amendment would also establish regulations to allow the Proposed Sign to have faces displayed in the generally prohibited “v-shaped” configuration. This is contrary to the generally permitted “back-to-back” configuration. Furthermore, the Proposed Sign would face the Open Space (“OS”) and Residential (“R”) sign districts within 250 meters of its location. This is contrary to the minimum separation distances generally required by the Sign By-law.

The Proposed Amendment would also alter the Sign By-law's administrative provisions concerning sign permit term to allow the Proposed Sign to be issued a sign permit which would have a ten-year duration, double the permit length for other third party signs set out in the Sign By-law; and, as well as establishing a further condition on the issuance a sign permit for the Proposed Sign, that the existing single-sided third party electronic ground sign *the "Existing Sign") be removed from the Premises and all associated permits revoked.

Toronto Building, in consultation with City Planning and Transportation Services, conducted a thorough review of the application, and does not believe that the proposed site-specific amendment is consistent with the objectives of the Sign By-law. Therefore, Toronto Building does not recommend approval of this amendment.