Item - 2026.EY33.50

The Etobicoke York Community Council:

1. Authorized the General Manager of Transportation Services to enter into an encroachment agreement with the owner of 70 Lacey Avenue to permit the construction and maintenance of a reinforced concrete retaining wall varying from approximately 1.8 metres to 2.8 metres in height, with a footing varying from approximately 1.2 metres to 1.9 metres in depth and located with zero setback from the sidewalk, subject but not limited to, the following conditions:

a. The property owner will indemnify the City of Toronto from and against all actions, suits, claims or demands and from all loss, costs, damages, and expenses that may result from such permission granted;

b. The property owner will maintain the encroachment at their own expense in good repair and a condition satisfactory to the General Manager of Transportation Services and will not make any additions or modifications to the encroachment beyond what is allowed under the terms of the Agreement;

c. The property owner will accept such additional or amended conditions as the City Solicitor, or the General Manager of Transportation Services may deem necessary in the interest of the City;

d. The property owner will remove the encroachment upon receiving written notice from Transportation Services to do so;

e. The property owner will enter into an encroachment agreement with the City of Toronto, at the applicant's expense, and assume all liability and damages related to the encroachment;

f. Transportation Services and/or utility companies may remove the encroachment at any time to install or maintain their assets within the affected public right of way with no obligation to reinstate them;

g. No spikes or pointed tops are permitted on the encroachment;

h. The encroachment agreement shall not permit or authorize any drainage works, including the installation of drainage pipes, weeping tiles, connections, conduits, or any other system designed to collect or direct water, other than the weeping tiles located below the soft landscaping identified on the approved encroachment plans. The property owner shall not connect, discharge, or permit the discharge of any water, runoff, or other effluent from the property or the encroachment to the City's stormwater or sanitary infrastructure, or onto any other portion of the public right-of-way. Notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent that any weeping tiles or subsurface drainage elements form part of the encroachment beneath the soft landscaping, the property owner shall be solely responsible for ensuring the proper drainage, functioning, and ongoing performance of the encroachment, including all subsurface elements, and shall ensure that such drainage systems do not cause, contribute to, or allow erosion, undermining, settlement, or any other damage to the public right-of-way or other City infrastructure, and shall take all necessary measures to prevent adverse impacts to the public right-of-way, including adjacent sidewalks, boulevards, and subsurface utilities;

i. The encroachment shall be constructed, installed, occupied, and maintained in a manner that ensures it does not:

1. create, cause, or allow any water, effluent, sediment, mud, debris, runoff, or other discharge or material to drain or deposit onto, accumulate on, or flow across the sidewalk, boulevard, roadway, or any portion of the public right-of-way, including in a manner that could result in pooling, icing, or any actual or potential nuisance or hazard; and

2. extend beyond the limits identified in the approved encroachment plans, including but not limited to any heights, depths, or lateral limits identified in such plans;

j. The property owner shall release, waive, and forever discharge the City of Toronto and its employees, officers, agents, and representatives from any and all claims for loss, damage, or injury, including property damage, personal injury, bodily injury, or death, arising out of or related to:

1. the City's inspection, maintenance, repair, clearing, salting, sanding, plowing, or other winter or non-winter maintenance activities performed within the public right-of-way, including the sidewalk adjacent to the encroachment, including any incidental impacts to the encroachment or the property; and

2. any nuisance, hazardous condition, or other situation created, caused, or contributed to by the encroachment, including, without limitation, any drainage, runoff, icing, slipperiness, obstruction, or other condition of the public right-of-way, including the sidewalk adjacent to the encroachment, attributable to the encroachment.

This staff report is about a matter for which Community Council has delegated authority from City Council to make a final decision.

The purpose of this report is for Etobicoke York Community Council to consider an appeal from the property owner of 70 Lacey Avenue regarding their encroachment application. The proposed encroachment consists of a reinforced concrete retaining wall that does not comply with City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 743, Streets and Sidewalks, Use of.

The property owner is seeking authorization from Etobicoke York Community Council to allow the construction and maintenance of the encroachment within the public right-of-way at 70 Lacey Avenue. Transportation Services recommends that authority be granted, subject to the conditions set out in this report.