Item - 2025.PH19.2

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Deferred consideration of the item until the September 25, 2025 meeting of the Planning and Housing Committee.

Adopted in 2010, Toronto's Sign By-law is a harmonized, City-wide set of regulations governing signs. Any member of the public may apply to City Council to amend the Sign By-law requesting permanent changes to regulations for specific properties or areas. Upon receiving an application, the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building ("CBO") assesses the proposal to determine if the proposed changes to the Sign By-law align with the objectives and purposes of the City's regulations, including the Sign By-law itself.

The Bader Group Incorporated (the “Applicant”), authorized by the property owner, Fisnik Pristine (the “Owner”), has applied for an Area-Specific Amendment to Toronto's Sign By-law (the “Proposed Amendment”), to replace the current sign regulations applicable to the property at 3 Bestobell Road (the “Premises”). If granted, the Proposed Amendment would not only permit a third party sign in an area where City Council has specifically determined that no third party signs should be displayed, but would also establish regulations that deviate significantly from the regulations for third party electronic signs found in the Sign By-law. Specifically, the Proposed Amendment would allow for, and regulate:

- A third party sign in a location regulated by two site-specific area restrictions which prohibit the construction of third party signs.

- A sign that would be three times larger and more than 50 percent taller than the existing regulations generally permit.

- A sign with a "v-shaped" configuration, rather than the permitted “back-to-back” configuration.

- Reducing the required separation between third party signs and to sign districts considered sensitive.

- Placing a sign within minimum setbacks where no signs are permissible.

- An initial ten-year permit term, double of the standard five-year term.

The Applicant could have sought approvals from the Sign Variance Committee for the Proposed Sign, including proximity to sensitive land uses and location within the area-specific prohibitions for third-party signs. However, this application is proceeding as an amendment due to the request to modify the initial sign permit term from five to ten years, without justification for such a policy change exclusively for the Premises. To address Sign By-law Amendment applications of this nature, City Council granted the CBO the authority in April 2024 to refer area-specific amendment applications to the Sign Variance Committee when appropriate. Since the Proposed Amendment application was submitted prior to the changes to the Sign By-law, it is not subject to the April 2024 amendments and cannot be referred to the Sign Variance Committee. The Applicant was notified of the early 2024 review of the Sign By-law and offered the opportunity to have portions of their application referred to the Sign Variance Committee, however they requested that the whole application proceed to City Council as an area-specific amendment to the Sign By-law.

The CBO, in consultation with City Planning and Transportation Services, conducted a review of the application and is of the opinion that the Proposed Amendment is not consistent with broader City’s policies, the objectives of the Sign By-law, or the specific Sign By-law regulations enacted for 3 Bestobell Road and the surrounding area. Therefore, CBO does not support approval of the Proposed Amendment.