Item - 2023.TE8.5

The Toronto and East York Community Council recommends that:

1.  City Council amend the Official Plan, for the lands at 475 Yonge Street substantially in accordance with the draft Official Plan Amendment included as Attachment 8 to the report (September 29, 2023) from the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District.

2.  City Council amend City of Toronto Zoning By-law 569-2013 and Zoning By-law 1473-2017, as amended and as applicable, for the lands at 475 Yonge Street substantially in accordance with the draft Zoning By-law Amendment included as Attachment 9 to the report (September 29, 2023) from the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District.

3.  City Council repeal Zoning By-law 1472-2017 for the lands at 475 Yonge Street.

4.  City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make such stylistic and technical changes to the draft Official Plan Amendment and draft Zoning By-law Amendment as may be required.

5.  City Council approve that in accordance with Section 42 of the Planning Act, the owner shall convey to the City, an on-site parkland dedication, having a minimum size of 604 square metres, to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation and the City Solicitor.

6.  City Council approve the acceptance of the on-site park, having a minimum size of 1,218 square metres, subject to the owner transferring the park to the City free and clear, above and below grade, of all easements, encumbrances and encroachments, in an acceptable environmental condition; the owner may propose the exception of encumbrances of tiebacks, where such an encumbrance is deemed acceptable by the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, in consultation with the City Solicitor; and such an encumbrance will be subject to the payment of compensation to the City, in an amount as determined by the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation and the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management.

7.  City Council approve a development charge credit against the Parks and Recreation component of the Development Charges for the design and construction by the owner of the Above Base Park Improvements to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation; the development charge credit shall be in an amount that is the lesser of the cost to the owner of designing and constructing the Above Base Park Improvements, as approved by the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, and the Parks and Recreation component of development charges payable for the development in accordance with the City's Development Charges By-law, as may be amended from time to time.

8.  City Council authorize the City to enter into an Agreement pursuant to Section 37 of the Planning Act to amend the existing Section 37 Agreement for the lands at 475 Yonge Street (Instrument Number AT4902529) to secure the following community benefits:

a. the owner shall convey to the City, for nominal consideration and at no cost to the City, a minimum of 1,218 square metres of land located on-site at 475 Yonge Street for public parkland purposes, of which 604 square metres shall represent the full parkland dedication requirement pursuant to Section 42 of the Planning Act for the development on the site and 614 square metres shall constitute an over-dedication of land, subject to the following:

i. prior to the first above grade building permit for the first building to be constructed on the site, the owner shall convey to the City a minimum of 916 square metres, consisting of the full parkland dedication requirement and 312 square metres of the 614 square metres over-dedication of land, to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation and the City Solicitor;

ii. prior to the first above grade building permit for the second building to be constructed on the site, the owner shall convey to the City a minimum of 302 square metres, consisting of the balance of the over-dedication of land, to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation and the City Solicitor; and

iii. the owner, any related company, or owner of benefitting development land(s), with the approval of the owner and of City Council, may elect to use up to 302 square metres of the over-dedication of land as credit for the purpose of fulfilling (or partially fulfilling) parkland dedication requirements in relation to other benefitting development land(s), provided that the over-dedication lands are a good physical substitution for any on-site dedication and the value of the over-dedication credit is at least equal to the value of the on-site dedication that would otherwise be required; any benefitting development land(s), which may include 214-230 Sherbourne Street, 595 Bay Street and 306 Yonge Street, 135 Isabella Street, and 646-664 Yonge Street and 2-4 Irwin Avenue, must be located within 2 kilometres of 475 Yonge Street and within the same Ward, with the terms of any credit to be secured in the Section 37 Agreement, to the satisfaction of Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, and the City Solicitor; in the event that the issuance of the first above grade building permit for the benefitting development land(s) occurs before the conveyance described in Part 8.a.ii. above, the owner of the benefitting development land(s) or the owner of 475 Yonge Street shall be required to provide the City with a Letter of Credit, in the City's standard form and in an amount satisfactory to the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, which will be increased in accordance with the Statistics Canada Non-Residential Construction Price Index for the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area, as reported quarterly by Statistics Canada Table 18-10-0135-01 (formerly CANSIM 327-0058), or its successor, two years from the date it is received by the City and increased on each succeeding anniversary date by the amount of the Construction Price Index for the previous year, all to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation and the City Solicitor; if the conveyance described in Part 8.a.ii. above has not occurred within six years from the date the Letter of Credit is received by the City, the City may draw upon the Letter of Credit for cash-in-lieu of parkland in fulfilment of the parkland dedication requirements for the benefitting development land(s); and the owner of 475 Yonge Street’s obligation to convey the 302 square metres of over-dedication to the City prior to the first above grade building permit for the second building to be constructed on the 475 Yonge Street site shall remain, even in the event that the Letter of Credit has been drawn on; and

b. prior to the earlier of condominium registration or first residential use of any residential unit on the site, the owner shall design, construct, and convey to the City, in an acceptable environmental condition, for nominal consideration and at no cost to the City, a minimum 596 square metres of community space located on the first and second floors of Building B, subject to the following:

i. the community space shall be delivered to the City in accordance with the City's Community Space Tenancy Policy and finished to Base Building Condition, with the terms and specifications to be secured in the Section 37 Agreement, to the satisfaction of the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management, the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor;

ii. prior to the issuance of the first above grade building permit for the development, the owner shall provide a letter of credit in the amount sufficient to guarantee 120 percent of the estimated cost of the design, construction, and conveyance of the community space complying with the specifications and requirements of the Section 37 Agreement, to the satisfaction of the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management, the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor;

iii. concurrent with or prior to the conveyance of the community space to the City, the owner and the City shall enter into, and register on title to the appropriate lands, an Easement and Cost Sharing Agreement for nominal consideration and at no cost to the City, that is in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor; the Easement and Cost Sharing Agreement shall address and/or provide for the integrated support, use, operation, maintenance, repair, replacement, and reconstruction of certain shared facilities, and the sharing of costs, in respect thereof, of portions of the subject lands to be owned by the City and the owner as they pertain to the community space;

iv. the City may elect to accept a cash contribution of $6,000,000.00, in lieu of the community space, to be allocated toward capital projects in the vicinity of the site in conformity with the City's Official Plan, with such election to occur prior to the issuance of Notice of Approval Conditions for the Site Plan Control application and with payment required prior to the issuance of the first above grade building permit, all to the satisfaction of the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management, the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in consultation with the Ward Councillor; and

v. the financial contribution pursuant to Part 8.b.iv. above shall be indexed upwardly in accordance with the Statistics Canada Non-Residential Building Construction Price Index for Toronto, calculated from the date City Council adopts the zoning by-law amendment(s) to the date of payment.

9.  City Council authorize the City to secure the following legal conveniences to support development in the amended Section 37 Agreement:

a. the owner shall construct and maintain a minimum of 653 square metres of privately owned publicly-accessible space located at the ground level between Buildings A and B (with underground garage and utilities below), extending between the Yonge Street frontage and the on-site park, with specific configuration and design and timing for the delivery of the privately owned publicly-accessible space to be determined in the context of Site Plan approval (which will include consideration for delivering the privately owned publicly-accessible space in phases and permitting construction staging prior to public access), all to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor;

b. prior to final Site Plan approval, the owner shall prepare all documents and convey, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor, for nominal consideration, a public access easement, including support rights, in perpetuity in favour of the City over the privately owned publicly-accessible space; and

c. the following matters are to be delivered or secured through the Site Plan Control application:

i. the owner shall prepare all documents and convey a Pedestrian Clearway Easement to the City to secure a 3.7-metre wide pedestrian clearway along Yonge Street, to a minimum height of 3.0 metres above the finished grade, together with rights of support, such lands to be free and clear of all other physical obstructions and encumbrances, and subject to a right-of-way for access and construction purposes in favour of the Grantor until such time as said lands have been laid out and dedicated for public pedestrian clearway purposes, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services and the City Solicitor;

ii. the owner shall submit comprehensive Construction Management Plans for each stage of the construction process; these plans must illustrate the location of employee and trades parking, heavy truck access points, material storage, construction site fencing and overhead cranes, and any other matters requested by the General Manager, Transportation Services or the Ward Councillor; and

iii. the owner shall provide and maintain the following Transportation Demand Management measures on-site:

1. one (1) annual bike-share membership per unit, offered for the first year of occupancy;

2. one (1) annual car-share membership per unit, offered for the first year of occupancy;

3. one (1) Presto card per unit, preloaded with the value of a TTC monthly pass, offered for the first year of occupancy; and

4. a minimum of one (1) bike repair station in each building (total two [2] bike repair stations).

10.  Before introducing the necessary Bills to City Council for enactment, City Council require the owner to:

a. submit a Functional Servicing and Stormwater Management Report to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services; and

b. enter into one or more agreements with the City requiring the owner, at no cost to the City, to complete any upgrades or required improvements to the existing municipal infrastructure and/or new municipal infrastructure to support the development, to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Transportation Services and the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services, should it be determined that improvements or upgrades and/or new infrastructure are required to support the development.

11.  City Council authorize the appropriate City officials to take such actions as are necessary to implement City Council's decision, including execution of the amending Section 37 Agreement, and any other necessary agreement(s).

The Toronto and East York Community Council held a statutory public meeting on October 18, 2023 and notice was given in accordance with the Planning Act.

This report reviews and recommends approval of the application to amend the Official Plan and Zoning By-law to permit two mixed-use buildings with heights of 75 and 78 storeys (238.5 and 247.3 metres, inclusive of the mechanical penthouse), containing 1,791 dwelling units, 564 square metres of non-residential uses on the first floor, and 596 square metres of community space on the first and second floor. The proposal includes a 1,218 square metre park on the east side of the site linked to a privately owned publicly-accessible open space, approximately 653 square metres, between the two buildings fronting onto Yonge Street.