Can they still go to the OMB, or does a direct refusal make this particular design totally dead in the water?
They can still go to the OMB, but by issuing this refusal report without a preliminary, the City is also showing confidence that they would more than likely win this one at the OMB.
What height might the City allow here? And would it make for a feasible proposal?
It's worth reading the background report
linked in the earlier post by @greenleaf for a fuller picture, but here's an excerpt of it that holds the crux of the City's argument:
The lot configuration and size for the north portion of this block is not appropriate to accommodate a tall building. The 2001 OMB approval incorporated a portion of the subject site and permitted a height of 15.5 and 23.0 metres. Separately, the OMB in 2005 approved variances including a height of 26.3 metres for another portion of the subject site. Collectively the previous approvals for the subject site contemplated that these lands are suitable as an extension of the base building height along Yonge Street for the 115- metre tower at 18 Yorkville Avenue. Combining these properties into a single development site does not justify a 229.3-metre tall tower with a density of 37.5 times the area of the lot. The proposed scale and density is greater than any buildings in the Height Peak and Height Ridge within Area Specific Policy 211.
The proposed height at 229.4 metres does not conform to the Official Plan, which calls for descending height and density northward from Bloor Street.
The overall intent of the Official Plan Site and Area Specific Policy 211 is to transition down height and density in the Height Ridge from the taller buildings in the Height Peak to the generally lower and mid-rise context that surrounds the Bloor-Yorkville/North Midtown Area. This approach mitigates impacts and maintains the gradual change from the Yonge Street and Bloor Street Height Peak to the parks, open spaces, school yard, low-rise commercial and residential neighbourhoods and the mid-rise character of the north part of the Bloor-Yorkville/North Midtown Area. This serves the overall goal of allowing for intensification in a manner that balances change and growth with preserving the character of the area.
Tall buildings have been approved in the Height Ridges. These towers have been reviewed to mitigate impacts and provide a downward transition north along Avenue Road, Bay Street and Yonge Street. The planning rationale report submitted with the application suggests that the proposal provides an "appropriate upward transition" from the tall buildings built and under construction. There is no policy which calls for an upward transition northward along the Yonge Street Height Ridge. This rationale is contrary to the policy for the area is not good planning.
The proposed height of 229.4 metres is comparable to recently approved and constructed buildings at the Height Peak at Yonge Street and Bloor Street (1 Bloor Street East – 258.5 metres; 50 Bloor Street West – 230 metres). At a Floor Space Index of 37.5 times the area of the lot, this proposal far exceeds the scale of any development in the both the Height Ridge and the Height Peak.
So, I'm not sure what height the City might accept here, or what height the OMB might. The low heights of the 2001 and 2005 OMB approvals would most certainly be increased by a new agreement as taller buildings have become somewhat more acceptable now, but if pressed on where I would peg acceptability for the City? Hmm, the City might accept a tower that fit under a "clothesline" from the top of 18 Yorkville to the top of Lotus, allowing an approximate 26-storey tower between 36 and 16-storey ones… but that's not what the developer is looking to do here at all. I dunno where this will go.
A helpful bit of data to add to UT's database would be a FSI ratio column. Would be helpful to see and understand how/why buildings like this are denied. Great job for an intern? Maybe this exists somewhere.
I'd also like to add fields indicating where in the planning process the building is, with links to planning reports and council votes too. It would make lots of great work for an intern, and our programmer! It would all depend upon
@Edward Skira allocating some resources for that!
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