Item - 2024.NY15.14

North York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council receive the report (June 20, 2024) from the Director, Community Planning, North York District, for information.

This report responds to a motion passed at North York Community Council meeting on February 22, 2024, regarding a Decision Report - Refusal for the proposed Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment applications at 1800 Sheppard Avenue East. The motion referred the item back to the Director, Community Planning, North York District to enable the applicant to work with City staff to address comprehensive planning issues for the overall site and report back to the July 9, 2024 North York Community Council meeting.

The Official Plan Amendment (OPA) proposes a multi-phased redevelopment of the existing 18.8 hectare site which conceptually envisions the site to redevelop with a total of 12 new buildings, with heights ranging from 18 to 52 storeys, 7,830 square metres of parkland dedication, a multi-use trail, new public and private streets, and a total of approximately 4,500 residential dwelling units at 1800 Sheppard Avenue East. A total of 309,000 square metres of residential gross floor area and 34,000 square metres of non-residential gross floor area are proposed for an overall total site density of approximately 2.44 times the area of the lot. The existing Fairview Mall will be retained. The proposed development is intended to occur in a phased manner (Phases 1-4) over a long planning horizon.

A Zoning By-law Amendment (ZBA) application was also submitted as part of the Official Plan Amendment but only includes the lands identified for Phase 1. This application includes three mixed-use towers with heights of 38 storeys, 45 storeys and 52 storeys. The proposed 45- and 38-storey towers are proposed to be exclusively residential and would be located along the Sheppard Avenue East frontage.  Phases 2 and 3 include the lands along the north side of the mall, south of Fairview Mall Drive. Phase 4 includes those lands that front onto Sheppard Avenue East, east of Parkway Forest Drive. These remaining phases are not subject to Zoning By-law Amendment applications at this time.

Discussions with the applicant are advancing and staff continue to work with the applicant to resolve outstanding staff comments following which staff propose to report back to Community Council with updated recommendations.