Item - 2026.PH31.18

Councillor Amber Morley recommends to the The Planning and Housing Committee that:

1. Direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning be directed to review zoning standards for  multiplexes and apartment buildings in the Residential Multiple zone to ensure new development does not impose undue impact on adjacent properties, with particular regard for zoning standards that determine building depth, building length, and side yard setback and consideration for aligning with apartment building zoning standards that apply to Major Streets and/or the R zone, and report at the earliest opportunity and no later than the planned second quarter 2027 multiplex monitoring report.

An issue has come to light with our zoning by-laws for multiplexes in Residential Multiple (RM) zones, where multiplex development can greatly exceed the scale of other permitted residential buildings in the same zone, including apartment buildings.

RM zones in Toronto historically have not regulated building length or depth. Multiplex by-law changes implemented city-wide did not include the building length or depth regulations in RM zones that were implemented in Residential Detached (RD), Residential Semi-detached (RS), and Residential Townhouse (RT) zones. Additionally, the changes exempted multiplexes from maximum Floor Space Index (FSI) restrictions. Combined, this means that the building length and depth in RM zones are only indirectly regulated by front and rear yard setbacks. Under certain conditions, this allows for an as-of-right multiplex that significantly exceeds what would be expected as “gentle intensification”.

An as-of-right development currently under construction at 63 Station Road in Ward 3 perfectly encapsulates this issue and serves as a clear example of why we need to address this gap in the zoning by-law. The as-of-right fourplex is 36.4m in length, the maximum length possible while complying with front and rear yard setback requirements. The issue is even more pronounced as the building is being constructed on a relatively narrow lot with a 9.14m frontage. Images of the development are shared in Attachment 1 to provide visual context.

The recommendations below direct City Planning to review this matter as quickly as possible and to report back with recommended changes to the zoning by-law in RM zones to ensure that as-of-right development of multiplexes in these zones is of the intended scale.