Item - 2024.EY13.17

The Etobicoke York Community Council:

1. Directed City Planning staff to conduct a scoped review of existing Islington Village policies and guidelines, identify opportunities for placemaking, and recommend policy or guideline updates to better maintain the village character.

Further to Council’s settlement approval for Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendments for 4884 Dundas Street West (Item 2024.CC17.7) and other approved and proposed development Councillor Morley and Councillor Holyday have been working together on these files and in light of ongoing Provincial policy and legislative change, residents have expressed concerns about the loss of the character of Islington Village and the retail experience.

For over 200 years, Islington Village has endured as a place which is the central heart of the community; as human settlement, a location of commerce for goods and services, a transportation nexus point, and as a social and cultural centre. The thriving historic village exists to serve its community in the heart of the Etobicoke and parts beyond, connected with road, pedestrian, cycling, rail and natural system connections.

Significant development pressure of the Etobicoke Centre secondary plan area, spanning Kipling and Islington subway stations, has threatened to obscure or erase this village through incremental change and deletions. There has been a departure from the human and village scale of the buildings and the loss of vital spaces needed to support commerce and services to the community. The erosion of history, culture, and heritage, and widening functional gap threatens the growing community, who’s success is rooted in the vitality of complete community resources, systems, and a focal point of civic space.

This motion is a scoped review of the Etobicoke Centre Secondary plan with an aim to refresh and augment the policies necessary to protect and preserve the Islington Village, including considerations of built form, networks human experience, and the utility of amenities, while recognizing and codifying, cultural, heritage and relevant linkages beyond the immediate context.