Item - 2024.PB22.5

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends that:

1. City Council approve the alterations to the heritage property at 125 Sylvan Avenue, under Section 33 of the Ontario Heritage Act, to allow for the replacement of the carport with a two-storey garage and the construction of a partial second storey addition above the house on the lands known municipally in 2024 as 125 Sylvan Avenue, with such alterations substantially in accordance with plans and drawings dated July 24, 2024 prepared by E-Architecture Inc. and on file with the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning, subject to the following conditions:

a. prior to the issuance of any permit for all or any part of the property at 125 Sylvan Avenue, including a heritage permit or a building permit, but excluding permits for repairs and maintenance and usual and minor works for the existing heritage building as are acceptable to the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning, the owner shall:

1. provide building permit drawings, including a description of materials and finishes, to be prepared by the project architect to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning; and

2. obtain all planning permissions as may be necessary including, but not limited to, obtaining a Minor Variance.

Colin Yu, Heritage Planner, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning gave a presentation on 125 Sylvan Avenue - Alterations to a Designated Heritage Property and Demolition of Heritage Attributes.

This report recommends that City Council approve the alterations proposed for the McNeel House at 125 Sylvan Avenue in connection with a renovation of the subject property. The McNeel House is a one-storey, Mid-Century Modern home constructed in 1963 for Dr. Burdett Harrison McNeel and his wife Helen B. McNeel and designed by Modernist architect James Albert Murray (1919-2008).

The proposed alteration involves the demolition of the existing carport, its replacement with a new two-storey garage and the construction of a partial second storey addition above the house that connects to the second storey of the garage through an enclosed link. The proposed alterations conserve the subject heritage property and are consistent with the existing heritage policy framework. The impacts of the application are appropriately mitigated through the overall conservation strategy.