This item was adopted at TEYCC today.
28 Bathurst Street - Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment - City-Initiated - Final Report
Statutory - Planning Act, RSO 1990
Origin
(March 17, 2017) Report from the Chief Corporate Officer and the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District
Recommendations
The City Planning Division and Real Estate Services recommends that:
1. City Council rescind the declaration of surplus in respect of 28 Bathurst Street so that the property is not intended for transfer from City ownership to Build Toronto, and that the appropriate City Officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto;
2. City Council amend the Official Plan, to redesignate the lands at 28 Bathurst Street from ‘Regeneration Areas’ to ‘Parks and Other Open Space Areas: Parks’, substantially in accordance with the draft Official Plan Amendment No. 377 attached as Attachment No. 4 to the report (March 17, 2017) from the Director of Community Planning, Toronto and East York District;
3. City Council amend Zoning By-law 569-2013, as amended, to zone the lands at 28 Bathurst Street to ‘OR’ Open Space, substantially in accordance with the draft Zoning By-law Amendment attached as Attachment No. 5 to the report (March 17, 2017) from the Director of Community Planning, Toronto and East York District;
4. City Council amend Zoning By-law 438-86, as amended, to rezone the lands at 28 Bathurst Street from ‘I1 D3’ Industrial and ‘MCR’ Mixed Use, to ‘G’ Park, substantially in accordance with the draft Zoning By-law Amendment attached as Attachment No. 6 to the report (March 17, 2017) from the Director of Community Planning, Toronto and East York District;
5. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make such stylistic and technical changes to the draft Official Plan Amendment and/or draft Zoning By-law Amendments as may be required;
6. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to withhold the Bills to amend to the Zoning By-laws noted in Recommendations 3 and 4, until such time as leases for other non-residential uses on the site have expired or been terminated;
7. City Council direct the Chief Financial Officer, in consultation with the General Manager of Parks, Forestry, and Recreation and Build Toronto, to report to City Council in the 3rd quarter of 2017, regarding the manner in which Build Toronto may be reimbursed for expenses related to development costs to date; and,
8. Should City Council adopt Recommendation 2 above, City Council direct the City Solicitor to request that the Ontario Municipal Board modify the previously Council-approved Official Plan Amendment No. 273 to ensure consistency with the recommendations of this report, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division, in consultation with appropriate City Officials.
Summary
On November 15, 2016 Toronto and East York Community Council requested City Planning Staff report to Toronto and East York Community Council to initiate the process of amending the Zoning By-law and Official Plan to change the land use designation from Regeneration Areas to Parks, and the zoning to an appropriate Park zone category, at 28 Bathurst Street.
The City initially acquired 28 Bathurst Street under a Section 31 Agreement (under the Expropriations Act) after the City initiated expropriation proceedings in 1988 due to contamination issues and the proposed Front Street extension. The site was formerly used for industrial purposes.
Following City Council’s decision to abandon plans for the Front Street extension, the property was declared surplus with the intended manner of disposal to be a transfer to Build Toronto. Build Toronto submitted an application to develop a 19-storey mixed use tower on the site. In 2013, City Planning Staff commenced a study of the area which included 28 Bathurst Street.
The study, adopted by Council in 2014, recommended less development potential than was originally contemplated in Build Toronto’s application.
This report discusses the history of the site, relevant Council Decisions, and previous and current planning direction. The report recommends that the current declaration of surplus be rescinded and recommends amendments to the Official Plan and Zoning By-laws 438-86 and 569-2013 to designate the site from ‘Regeneration Areas’ to ‘Parks and Other Open Space Areas: Parks’ and rezone the lands to an appropriate Park zone category, respectively.
