Item - 2024.PH12.3

The Planning and Housing Committee recommends that:

1. City Council amend the Official Plan substantially in accordance with the proposed Official Plan Amendment 727, appended as Attachment 1 to the report (April 24, 2024) from the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

2. City Council amend Zoning By-law 569-2013, as amended, substantially in accordance with the draft Zoning By-law Amendment appended as Attachment 2 to the report (April 24, 2024) from the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

3. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make such stylistic and technical changes to the proposed Official Plan and Draft Zoning By-law Amendments as may be required.

4. City Council direct the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to develop an addendum to the Townhouse and Low-Rise Development Guidelines as part of the Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods (EHON) Major Streets Study Implementation program and address the addition of townhouse and small-scale apartment buildings as introduced through this report to the Neighbourhoods low-rise context.

5. City Council direct the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of Official Plan Amendment 727 and the Zoning By-law Amendment in facilitating townhouse and small-scale apartment building development along the major streets, and to report to the Planning and Housing Committee following the earlier of two (2) years following the date the Official Plan Amendment 727 and the Zoning By-law Amendment come into full force and effect, or following the issuance of the 200th building permit for the construction of new small-scale apartment buildings or townhouses along major streets, in order to review and recommend any necessary revisions to the policy, zoning, and/or other changes to improve implementation.

6. City Council request the General Manager, Parks, Forestry, and Recreation to refuse, at the General Manager's discretion, a permit to injure or destroy a tree protected under Municipal Code Chapters 658, or 813, received in relation to a building permit application to construct townhouse and small-scale apartment buildings, and to advise the applicant to meet with City Planning and Urban Forestry staff as appropriate to consider how the location, massing and design of the proposed building or expansion can be amended to protect the By-law protected tree in question.

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in consultation with the TTC to analyze the proposed elimination of circular driveways and their effects on WheelTrans access and report directly to City Council on May 22, 2024 with results and recommendations.

2. Directed the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to report directly to the May 22, 2024 meeting of City Council on the merits of increasing the proposed maximum permitted number of dwelling units in apartment buildings on Major Streets from 30 dwelling units to 60 dwelling units, including the implications for financial feasibility, and provide any appropriate recommendations.

3. Directed the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to include the “EHON Major Streets: Financial Feasibility” report from December 2023 as an attachment to item PH12.3 at the May 22, 2024 meeting of City Council.

4. Directed the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to report directly to the May 22, 2024 meeting of City Council on the merits of reducing front yard setbacks, side yard setbacks, landscaping requirements, amenity space requirements, and minimum building separation, and provide any appropriate recommendations.

The Planning and Housing Committee held a statutory public meeting on May 9, 2024, and notice was given in accordance with the Planning Act.

Toronto is a dynamic, growing city which continues to attract newcomers, with at least 700,000 new Torontonians expected by 2051. To continue to thrive, both current and future residents will need homes that accommodate the diversity of household sizes and compositions across the city, and as a result, Toronto needs a diverse range of housing options. In recent years, the city’s housing growth has largely been in mid-rise and high-rise buildings concentrated in densely populated areas like the Downtown, Centres, and Avenues, while the supply of low-rise housing, such as townhouses and small-scale apartment buildings, has not kept up with demand.

Toronto’s low-rise Neighbourhoods are changing, but much of this change has come through expanding and rebuilding single-detached homes, through refreshing the existing housing with larger homes. The addition of secondary suites, laneway suites, and garden suites has occurred more slowly. More recently, new permissions for Multiplexes have enabled buildings with up to four units across the city. Introducing additional permissions for townhouses and small-scale apartment buildings can allow Neighbourhoods to add more housing that complements existing neighbourhood housing while creating a more intensive edge to the neighbourhoods along the major streets.

Townhouses and small-scale apartment buildings have been providing housing in many Toronto neighbourhoods for generations. By expanding permissions for this type of housing across the city, additional housing can be developed to expand the range of ground-related/low-rise housing options to support those who cannot afford a detached or semi-detached home, but who will contribute to the stability of neighbourhoods and benefit from the access to these stable environments in support of families and young Torontonians that want to set down roots across the city.

Permitting a broader variety of building types along major streets is generally consistent with the Official Plan. The Official Plan recognizes that major streets provide opportunities for additional density along the boundaries of the neighbourhoods. Providing land use permissions for townhouses and small-scale apartment buildings will provide a degree of height and density transition from growth areas to the interior of the Neighbourhoods. This initiative is one component of Toronto's 2022 - 2026 Housing Action Plan, which seeks to increase the supply of housing within complete, inclusive, and sustainable communities with critical infrastructure to support growth. It is in keeping with the recently adopted new Chapter 1 to the Official Plan vision to eliminate disparities, prioritize climate action, and to become the world’s most inclusive city.

To remove barriers and enable the creation of Neighbourhoods related housing, this report proposes an Official Plan Amendment (OPA) to permit townhouses and small-scale apartment buildings along the major streets in Neighbourhoods areas across the city. A Zoning By-law Amendment is also recommended to implement these permissions as-of-right in all residential zones across Toronto, and to implement appropriate performance standards. As part of the Zoning By-law Amendment, changes are recommended to enhance existing regulations requiring confirmation of adequate water and wastewater servicing for those applications with more than 10 dwelling units.

The recommended amendments will maintain a neighbourhood scale and align moderate density with transportation corridors and transit routes. With as-of-right zoning permissions, this type of housing can be delivered relatively quickly as owners will only be required to obtain a building permit (and Site Plan Approval, when applicable) rather than official plan or zoning by-law approvals. Once enabled, it will remain the choice of the individual property owner whether to exercise these permissions.

The addition of townhouse and small-scale apartment buildings along the edges of Neighbourhoods throughout the city, will provide more diversity of housing, and support neighbourhood facilities and access to amenities. New residents in Toronto’s neighbourhoods can help stabilize declining populations, make better use of existing infrastructure, and support local retail establishments and services.

These additional built form permissions introduce housing forms that are already present in many parts of the city into neighbourhoods that have historically been zoned to restrict housing types, helping the city distribute growth more evenly and to accommodate the needs of Toronto's diverse population.

The Planning and Housing Committee recommends that:

1. City Council amend the Official Plan substantially in accordance with the proposed Official Plan Amendment 727, appended as Attachment 1 to the report (April 24, 2024) from the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

2. City Council amend Zoning By-law 569-2013, as amended, substantially in accordance with the draft Zoning By-law Amendment appended as Attachment 2 to the report (April 24, 2024) from the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

3. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make such stylistic and technical changes to the proposed Official Plan and Draft Zoning By-law Amendments as may be required.

4. City Council direct the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to develop an addendum to the Townhouse and Low-Rise Development Guidelines as part of the Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods (EHON) Major Streets Study Implementation program and address the addition of townhouse and small-scale apartment buildings as introduced through this report to the Neighbourhoods low-rise context.

5. City Council direct the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of Official Plan Amendment 727 and the Zoning By-law Amendment in facilitating townhouse and small-scale apartment building development along the major streets, and to report to the Planning and Housing Committee following the earlier of two (2) years following the date the Official Plan Amendment 727 and the Zoning By-law Amendment come into full force and effect, or following the issuance of the 200th building permit for the construction of new small-scale apartment buildings or townhouses along major streets, in order to review and recommend any necessary revisions to the policy, zoning, and/or other changes to improve implementation.

6. City Council request the General Manager, Parks, Forestry, and Recreation to refuse, at the General Manager's discretion, a permit to injure or destroy a tree protected under Municipal Code Chapters 658, or 813, received in relation to a building permit application to construct townhouse and small-scale apartment buildings, and to advise the applicant to meet with City Planning and Urban Forestry staff as appropriate to consider how the location, massing and design of the proposed building or expansion can be amended to protect the By-law protected tree in question.

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in consultation with the TTC to analyze the proposed elimination of circular driveways and their effects on WheelTrans access and report directly to City Council on May 22, 2024 with results and recommendations.

2. Directed the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to report directly to the May 22, 2024 meeting of City Council on the merits of increasing the proposed maximum permitted number of dwelling units in apartment buildings on Major Streets from 30 dwelling units to 60 dwelling units, including the implications for financial feasibility, and provide any appropriate recommendations.

3. Directed the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to include the “EHON Major Streets: Financial Feasibility” report from December 2023 as an attachment to item PH12.3 at the May 22, 2024 meeting of City Council.

4. Directed the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to report directly to the May 22, 2024 meeting of City Council on the merits of reducing front yard setbacks, side yard setbacks, landscaping requirements, amenity space requirements, and minimum building separation, and provide any appropriate recommendations.

The Planning and Housing Committee held a statutory public meeting on May 9, 2024, and notice was given in accordance with the Planning Act.

Toronto is a dynamic, growing city which continues to attract newcomers, with at least 700,000 new Torontonians expected by 2051. To continue to thrive, both current and future residents will need homes that accommodate the diversity of household sizes and compositions across the city, and as a result, Toronto needs a diverse range of housing options. In recent years, the city’s housing growth has largely been in mid-rise and high-rise buildings concentrated in densely populated areas like the Downtown, Centres, and Avenues, while the supply of low-rise housing, such as townhouses and small-scale apartment buildings, has not kept up with demand.

Toronto’s low-rise Neighbourhoods are changing, but much of this change has come through expanding and rebuilding single-detached homes, through refreshing the existing housing with larger homes. The addition of secondary suites, laneway suites, and garden suites has occurred more slowly. More recently, new permissions for Multiplexes have enabled buildings with up to four units across the city. Introducing additional permissions for townhouses and small-scale apartment buildings can allow Neighbourhoods to add more housing that complements existing neighbourhood housing while creating a more intensive edge to the neighbourhoods along the major streets.

Townhouses and small-scale apartment buildings have been providing housing in many Toronto neighbourhoods for generations. By expanding permissions for this type of housing across the city, additional housing can be developed to expand the range of ground-related/low-rise housing options to support those who cannot afford a detached or semi-detached home, but who will contribute to the stability of neighbourhoods and benefit from the access to these stable environments in support of families and young Torontonians that want to set down roots across the city.

Permitting a broader variety of building types along major streets is generally consistent with the Official Plan. The Official Plan recognizes that major streets provide opportunities for additional density along the boundaries of the neighbourhoods. Providing land use permissions for townhouses and small-scale apartment buildings will provide a degree of height and density transition from growth areas to the interior of the Neighbourhoods. This initiative is one component of Toronto's 2022 - 2026 Housing Action Plan, which seeks to increase the supply of housing within complete, inclusive, and sustainable communities with critical infrastructure to support growth. It is in keeping with the recently adopted new Chapter 1 to the Official Plan vision to eliminate disparities, prioritize climate action, and to become the world’s most inclusive city.

To remove barriers and enable the creation of Neighbourhoods related housing, this report proposes an Official Plan Amendment (OPA) to permit townhouses and small-scale apartment buildings along the major streets in Neighbourhoods areas across the city. A Zoning By-law Amendment is also recommended to implement these permissions as-of-right in all residential zones across Toronto, and to implement appropriate performance standards. As part of the Zoning By-law Amendment, changes are recommended to enhance existing regulations requiring confirmation of adequate water and wastewater servicing for those applications with more than 10 dwelling units.

The recommended amendments will maintain a neighbourhood scale and align moderate density with transportation corridors and transit routes. With as-of-right zoning permissions, this type of housing can be delivered relatively quickly as owners will only be required to obtain a building permit (and Site Plan Approval, when applicable) rather than official plan or zoning by-law approvals. Once enabled, it will remain the choice of the individual property owner whether to exercise these permissions.

The addition of townhouse and small-scale apartment buildings along the edges of Neighbourhoods throughout the city, will provide more diversity of housing, and support neighbourhood facilities and access to amenities. New residents in Toronto’s neighbourhoods can help stabilize declining populations, make better use of existing infrastructure, and support local retail establishments and services.

These additional built form permissions introduce housing forms that are already present in many parts of the city into neighbourhoods that have historically been zoned to restrict housing types, helping the city distribute growth more evenly and to accommodate the needs of Toronto's diverse population.