Item - 2024.PH17.14

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Authorized the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to use the draft Major Transit Station Area and Protected Major Transit Station Area delineations, attached as Attachment 4 to the report (November 19, 2024) from the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning as a basis for consultation.

The purpose of this report is to recommend the Planning and Housing Committee authorize City Planning to use the draft delineations of 7 Major Transit Station Areas (MTSAs) and 2 Protected Major Transit Station Areas (PMTSAs) (Attachment 4) as the basis of consultation in working towards preparing a final Official Plan Amendment/s. In June 2020, the City Planning Division initiated the Growth Plan Conformity exercise and Municipal Comprehensive Review ("MCR") which included the delineation of approximately 180 potential MTSAs to meet Provincial minimum intensification targets. A subset of MTSAs were identified as PMTSAs, where the Council-approved inclusionary zoning policy framework can be implemented.

The new Provincial Planning Statement (PPS 2024) came into effect on October 20, 2024. It combines the PPS (2020) and most of the Growth Plan (2020) policies into a single policy document. The PPS 2024 still requires municipalities to delineate and set density targets for MTSAs, but this is no longer a requirement of a Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR). The PPS 2024 requires all PMTSAs and MTSAs to be approved by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) under section 26 of the Planning Act.

As required by the PPS 2024, for each of the station areas, a draft Site and Area Specific Policy (SASP) is presented with a proposed minimum density target (residents and jobs per hectare). For potential PMTSAs, the draft SASPs include minimum development density (Floor Space Index ("FSI") or minimum number of units). City staff will consult on these draft delineations to achieve these minimum density targets based on the following Council-approved development frameworks: in effect Official Plan land use designations within the identified areas; as-of-right zoning by-law permissions; density permissions included in secondary plans; and approved developments that have not yet been built. In addition, on-going City-wide work including the Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods (EHON) Major Streets Study, Updates to Mid-rise Rear Transition Performance Standards Urban Design Guidelines, as-of-right Zoning for Mid-rise Buildings on Avenues and Expanding Mixed Use Areas and Commercial Residential Zoning for new Mixed Use Areas will be considered.

The density measures included in the draft SASPs are minimums and do not preclude the submission, staff review, and Council approval of any new development applications that may exceed these minimums. In many cases, it is expected that development on lands designated Mixed-Use Areas will exceed these minimums. Updates to Zoning By-laws will follow the Minister's decision of the final OPA to ensure consistency with the identified minimum densities in each SASP.

As part of City’s the Housing Accelerator Fund, at its meeting on December 13, 2023, City Council directed staff to report to the Planning and Housing Committee on the British Columbia legislative approach on transit oriented housing permissions (Bill 47) and its applicability to Toronto’s Major Transit Station Areas. Bill 47 Housing Statutes (Transit-Oriented Areas) was introduced by the Province of British Columbia (BC) on November 30, 2023, to establish transit-supportive densities around transit stations.

City staff’s review of the BC approach demonstrates that the Ontario framework provides a more flexible approach to determine the appropriate density and scale of development that can be supported while still achieving the same policy objectives. The BC approach has less regard for the local context, which overrides density, height, and parking regulations at a local level, while other zoning powers, such as heritage preservation, remain. In Ontario, a minimum target applied to an entire MTSA boundary that is delineated based on the local context of each MTSA allows for a more comprehensive approach to transit-oriented development planning that considers infrastructure and community facility capacities.