Item - 2024.EY11.1

The Etobicoke York Community Council:

1. Adjourned the Public Meeting for the City-initiated Official Plan Amendment for the Jane Finch Secondary Plan until the June 3, 2024 meeting of the Etobicoke York Community Council, commencing at 9:30 a.m.

2. Requested the Director, Community Planning, Etobicoke York District, in consultation with staff of Economic Development and Culture, and the local ward councillor, conduct further public consultation, regarding:

a. maximizing economic opportunities and job growth within the entirety of the Jane Finch Secondary Plan area and a potential cluster of businesses and institutions centred on Finch Avenue West and Norfinch Drive / Oakdale Road; and

b. a review of the building heights throughout the Jane Finch Secondary Plan.
 

3. Requested the Director, Community Planning, Etobicoke York District, in consultation with staff of Economic Development and Culture, to report to Etobicoke York Community Council with the following:

a. existing and projected employment in the study area relative to residential growth; and

b. recommendations, as appropriate, on the policy framework within the proposed Jane Finch Secondary Plan.

The Etobicoke York Community Council commenced a statutory public meeting on February 26, 2024, and notice was given in accordance with the Planning Act.

This report recommends that City Council adopt the recommended Jane Finch Secondary Plan and associated Urban Design Guidelines, to provide a comprehensive planning framework for the area around the intersection of Jane Street and Finch Avenue West.

This Official Plan Amendment (OPA) would leverage the significant public investment in new transit infrastructure through the Finch West Light Rail Transit (LRT) by directing development to appropriate locations, transforming the area to support walking, cycling and transit use, and identifying public realm improvements and community facilities necessary to meet the needs of existing and future residents and workers. It advances the vision of an inclusive, transit-supportive and climate-resilient complete community, with a strong mixed-use core where local-serving retail and service uses would continue to thrive. The Secondary Plan would facilitate the development of significant new housing, with policies that encourage a diversity of housing types, forms, tenures and affordability. The Secondary Plan centres equity with a focus on outcomes for Indigenous, Black and equity-deserving groups, including implementation policies that would minimize displacement of residents and businesses.

This report also recommends amendments to other Official Plan policies. These include extending the Avenues along the Finch West Light Rail Transit route, adjusting right-of-way widths for Jane Street and Finch Avenue West to support objectives for a complete street with a generous public realm, transit-priority measure and planned higher-order transit, redesignating certain lands close to Light Rail Transit stops to Mixed Use Areas and in one location to Apartment Neighbourhoods, and establishing locations for new streets to create developable blocks within the large mall, plaza and mixed-use sites in the study area. Two Site and Area Specific Policies are recommended for deletion to align plans for those sites with this updated policy context.

The Jane Finch Secondary Plan and Urban Design Guidelines are an outcome of the Jane Finch Initiative, which is an interdivisional three-phased project that began in 2020. A companion plan, the Jane Finch Community Development Plan, stewarded by Social Development Finance and Administration (SDFA) and Economic Development and Culture (EDC), is proceeding through Economic and Community Development Committee in the same City Council cycle. The Jane Finch Initiative was informed by a thorough public consultation process facilitated by the Jane/Finch Centre, concurrent review of development applications, and input of staff from various City Divisions, commenting agencies and key stakeholder organizations. Two previous reports to City Council presented various milestones of the planning study, the most recent being the adoption of the Ideas Report by City Council in May 2022. This staff report presents the results of the public consultation process for Phase 2 (on the Ideas Report) and for Phase 3 (on the proposed Secondary Plan and Urban Design Guidelines).

This recommended Official Plan Amendment is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (2020) and conforms to A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2020) and the Greenbelt Plan (2017).