Here's the TTC Report. It appears that this development involves only the northern portion of the lands and not the bus bays. Therefore, this is not contingent on the Kipling station redesign. This has progressed much more quickly than I had anticipated.
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Form Revised: September 1999
TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION
REPORT NO.
MEETING DATE: July 19, 2006
SUBJECT: DECLARE SURPLUS – A PORTION OF ISLINGTON TRANSIT PROPERTY
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Committee of the Whole:
1) Approve declaring surplus portions of 1226 Islington Avenue (Islington Subway Station, Bus Terminal and main commuter parking lot) under the jurisdiction of TTC described as part of Part 3 on sketch PS-2006-088 (Appendix 1) (the “Landsâ€) subject to the following conditions:
a) The City of Toronto, for the benefit of the TTC, retain a stratified ownership interest, in that portion of the Lands occupied by the Islington Subway Station and running structure (“Retained Landsâ€) which Retained Lands shall be in a size:
i. That allows for the safe and efficient operation, repair, replacement and maintenance of the existing transit facilities
ii. That accommodates a new bus terminal and PPUDO that best meets TTC design and operational requirements; and
iii. That accommodate the installation of TTC fire ventilation equipment;
b) The City of Toronto retain easements over the Lands as necessary to permit access over and through the Lands for access to the existing and future TTC bus terminal, commuter parking lots and passenger pick-up and drop off (PPUDO) operations, to the satisfaction of the TTC Chief General Manager;
c) Provisions are made to the satisfaction of TTC in design and construction of any proposed new development such that existing and future bus terminal and other transit operations (i.e. PPUDO, taxi stands) are not impacted by the development of the Lands;
d) Any sale or lease agreements for the Lands be subject to review and sign off by Chief General Manager, Toronto Transit Commission;
e) Toronto City Council confirm the application of the City of Toronto (“Cityâ€) land disposal and proceeds policies and specifically the “Policy Governing Land Transactions Among City ABCD’s and Proceeds From the Sale of Surplus City-Owned Real Property†to the Lands including:
i. Compensation to TTC for capital costs incurred as a result of the disposal of the Lands, and
ii. Compensation for incremental TTC operating costs incurred as a result of the disposal of the lands
f) Approve funding for replacement commuter parking facilities as outlined in this report without impacting the base TTC capital budget; and
g) Any development on the Lands be in conformity with the City’s Official Plan policies for transit supportive development at subway stations.
2) Approve in principle, making the 2 Fieldway Rd commuter parking lot into a permanent commuter parking facility subject to funding its construction with funds advanced under the City’s land disposal and proceeds policies; and
3) Forward this report directly to City Council for consideration at its meeting of July 25, 2006.
FUNDING
There are no funds available in TTC’s capital or operating budgets for the replacement of the commuter parking spaces or the potential revenues lost as a result of this surplus declaration. Unless the parking spaces are replaced, transit revenues may be impacted in both the short and the long term and the disposal may also negatively impact ridership growth.
The capital cost to construct the 2 Fieldway commuter parking lot is estimated at $3.2 million. The recommendations in this report are designed to provide sufficient funds to allow the proposed 2 Fieldway Rd commuter parking lot to become a permanent lot to potentially facilitate the replacement of the revenues and parking spaces lost as a result of declaring the Lands surplus. Funds will need to be incorporated into the 2007 -2011 Capital program and 2007 Operating Budget to address these requirements.
BACKGROUND
On June 29th, shortly before the July 4, 2006 meeting of the City of Toronto’s Administration Committee, TTC staff were provided with a copy of a report declaring a major portion of 1226 Islington Avenue as surplus to municipal requirements (See Appendix 2). TTC currently uses the Lands for its bus, subway, PPUDO and commuter parking operations at Islington Station. The land is owned by the City of Toronto but has been under the jurisdiction of the TTC for almost 40 years. Staff understand that the intention behind the report was to permit discussions between the City and SNC Lavalin Group Inc. (“SNCâ€) to proceed to the next level within the timelines set out in the negotiations.
Specifically, the TTC uses portions of 1226 Islington Avenue (Part 3) for the below grade subway station and running structure, Main commuter parking lot and passenger pick-up and drop-off facilities (PPUDO). The commuter parking functions form an important component of the TTC’s ridership to Islington Station and are important in both attracting and retaining ridership. The Islington Bus Terminal is immediately adjacent to the Lands proposed to be declared surplus by the City of Toronto.
The property to be declared surplus by the City does not appear to include the existing TTC/ Mississauga Transit (MT) bus terminal on the north west corner of Bloor/Islington. As a result, the initial phase of development for SNC would not require the relocation of MT to Kipling Station or affect the existing Islington Station bus terminal.
The property known as 3326 Bloor St. West was purchased by City of Toronto from the Royal Canadian Legion (The “Legion Landsâ€). The Legion Lands have never been under the jurisdiction of the TTC and are currently utilized by TPA as an interim TPA parking lot. The Lands under the jurisdiction of the TTC were expropriated by Metro Toronto on behalf of the TTC between 1965 and 1967 for the construction of the then western terminus of the Bloor subway line, including a subway station, slotted bus bay bus terminal, commuter parking and PPUDO.
Islington and Kipling Stations are major transit hubs (ranking 5th and 4th on the Bloor-Danforth line respectively in terms of passenger activity) and draw a significant number of transit users to the TTC from outside the City of Toronto based not only on bus connections but also on strategically located commuter parking lots (2,787 spaces). In addition to 20 TTC bus routes and branches feeding the 2 subway stations, 17 Mississauga Transit routes and branches deliver more than 18,000 passengers daily to Islington Station.
Over the past two years, TTC has taken the lead in working with MT, GO Transit and the City of Toronto to relocate MT to a new facility at Kipling. Moving MT from Islington to Kipling Station is a pre-requisite to the full development of the Bloor/ Islington Lands. TTC staff have actively sought to free up land for redevelopment and intensification at Islington Station. Efforts have included the development of replacement commuter parking concepts and the design of more efficient PPUDO and TTC bus terminal configurations including a new TTC bus terminal design that would allow Islington Station to become fully accessible. The new TTC bus terminal is required for two purposes namely to make the station fully accessible and to facilitate development of the existing bus terminal lands. Progress has been made on the design concept for new bus terminals and the relocation of MT to Kipling, to the point where funding has become the primary obstacle to redevelopment of the entire station lands. In addition to the existing subway facilities, a portion of the Lands proposed to be declared surplus is required for the future TTC bus terminal including bus access and to permit access to future commuter parking and PPUDO facilities.
Two alternative TTC bus terminal concepts to facilitate development of the Bloor – Islington lands have been developed by TTC staff in consultation with the City. Appendices 3 and 4 outline the two alternative TTC bus terminal concepts developed to date to make the station accessible and allow relatively unobstructed development of the lands south of the subway right-of-way. The bus terminal concept outlined in Appendix 3 could be implemented in conjunction with the Phase 1 SNC development and the lands proposed to be declared surplus by the City would not affect the existing or proposed TTC bus terminals. However, this bus terminal concept is not preferred by the TTC for operational and quality of service reasons although it is preferred by City staff.
The bus terminal concept preferred by the TTC for operational reasons is outlined in Appendix 4. The primary difference between the two designs is the degree of exclusivity given to buses accessing the terminals. The preferred design in Appendix 4 gives buses exclusive access to and from Islington Avenue without interference or delay from general traffic. The design in Appendix 3 would require that buses compete for road and intersection space with other traffic including development, parking, PPUDO, taxis and any private traffic that wishes to bypass the Bloor/Islington intersection.
Some of the lands declared surplus by the City to facilitate the SNC development (Phase 1) are required in order to construct the preferred bus terminal concept that would facilitate the Phase 2 development on the existing bus terminal site. As a result, as currently described, the lands declared surplus might preclude the preferred TTC bus terminal concept and thus long term development of the remaining Bloor – Islington Lands. A full Commission report on the status of the Kipling/ Islington Bus Operations Study and Redevelopment Strategy will be available at the August 30th meeting of the Commission. This interim report on the City’s declaration of surplus property is necessary as the July 4th Administration Committee report on this subject will be considered by City Council on July 25, 26 and 27th. Therefore, the City should not enter into any property or development agreements that would preclude the TTC’s preferred bus terminal design and associated redevelopment of the existing bus terminal lands (Phase 2) hence the recommendation herein to require TTC sign off of any agreement with SNC regarding the Lands.
Both TTC and the City of Toronto have by-laws, policies and procedures governing the disposal of real property. The policies are in place to ensure that all stakeholders have been consulted prior to disposal, existing and continuing operations of ABCD’s are adequately protected and the disposition of the net proceeds is equitable. The relevant policies in this case are as follows:
a) City Land Disposal Policy:
The Lands are held on title by the City of Toronto and are subject to the City’s land disposal policies. Normally, the ABCD having jurisdiction over a property would declare the property surplus and the City process would then follow. This was not the procedure utilized for the disposal of the Lands described in this report. TTC Bylaw #2 requires that the Commission declare property surplus to TTC operational needs (in accordance with the Municipal Act) and approve the manner or process by which the sale of the site will be carried out. This report satisfies the first step in the process to declare a transit property surplus for future sale or long term lease.
b) City Proceeds Policy:
The City of Toronto “Policy Governing Land Transactions Among City ABCD’s and Proceeds From the Sale of Surplus City-Owned Real Propertyâ€, defines how the proceeds from the sale of City of Toronto lands are distributed to ABCD’s.
With a property such as Bloor-Islington the proceeds policy states as follows:
“Where an ABCD is maintaining operations at a particular site, but there is development or sales potential for the remaining portions of the site (e.g. air rights, surface or sub-grade), then the proceeds of any such sale/development will generally accrue to the City as owner, and be deposited in the LARF or other applicable reserve fund. Any capital costs and/or incremental operating costs resulting directly from such sale or development that would be incurred by the ABCD continuing to operate on a portion of the property will form part of the report before Council for its consideration at the time of the proposed sale or development, with the intent that the ABCD remaining on-site will be compensated for any such capital or incremental operating costs.â€
The Commission has previously endorsed the application of the policy with respect to properties in which the TTC is either the owner of the lands or has operational jurisdiction over the lands.
c) TTC Ridership Growth Strategy:
The TTC is in the process of implementing its Ridership Growth Strategy. The expansion of commuter parking is one component of this strategy and, due to high usage of parking lots at Kipling and Islington Stations, the expansion of commuter parking at these two stations in our view is considered a high priority. Relocating MT from Islington to Kipling Station is a pre-requisite to the full development of the Bloor/Islington Lands but has negative implications with respect to the parking capacity.
d) TTC Commuter Parking Policy:
TTC Commuter Parking Policy requires a one-for-one replacement of any commuter parking spaces lost due to redevelopment. The Commission has previously directed staff to ensure that any commuter parking spaces lost to development at Kipling/ Islington stations must be replaced on a one-for-one basis consistent with the TTC Commuter Parking Policy.
DISCUSSION
The declaration of City Lands as surplus prior to any consideration of this matter by the ABCD having jurisdiction over the property is contrary to the various TTC and City policies, and is highly unusual. The process/ policy adopted by the City and its ABCD’s (including the Commission) involves the ABCD having jurisdiction over the property taking the first step in the process. This is intended to protect the ABCD’s from the City effectively declaring lands surplus that an ABCD does not intend to be surplus to its needs. As the TTC and the City both share a common objective to develop the Bloor – Islington lands, and due to the critical timing of the SNC proposal, the TTC should not object in principle, to the manner in which the property was declared surplus by the City, provided that it is understood that this is a one time exception to the current process and practice and that the TTC’s operational and financial needs are addressed as outlined in this report.
Unless adequate provisions are made in the sale/lease documents, the disposal of the Lands could have several direct, adverse impacts on TTC operations now and in the future and may compromise TTC’s ability to design and construct an operationally effective replacement TTC bus terminal and related TTC facilities as follows:
1) The north end of the Lands includes the Islington Subway Station and a portion of the subway tunnel structure. The TTC must retain jurisdictional control over this portion of TTC’s facilities and operations. In these situations, a recent policy adopted by the Commission requires that the TTC property interests be protected by the City by retaining stratified ownership of the subway lands rather than having the developer own the land and the City retaining easements for TTC subway facilities and operations.
The City of Toronto report states that the Lands will be sold or leased “subject to satisfying TTC operational requirementsâ€. TTC staff do not support the sale or lease of that portion of the Lands containing the existing subway station and tunnel structure without adequate protection of TTC property and operational interests. Based on past experience, easements do not allow TTC to protect its operations from the negative impact of adjacent development to the same degree as ownership, and easements do not adequately provide for changes in future operating requirements. Therefore, a parcel of land will need to be defined and held on title by the City for the benefit of the TTC. The stratified property to be retained by the City must include the existing tunnel and station structures and sufficient space to allow TTC to maintain its subway facilities, construct a new bus terminal and in the future install fire ventilation equipment in Islington Station.
2) The Main Islington commuter parking lot which is affected by the proposed SNC development is a Metropass-only lot. Approximately 400 out of a total 543 (74%) commuter parking spaces in the Main lot could be lost as a result of the Lands being declared surplus and developed by SNC as outlined in the City’s report. The lot currently exceeds 100% occupancy on a daily basis and generates gross transit revenues of $480,000 per year at current Metropass prices.
3) There are no provisions in TTC’s base capital budget to construct a replacement commuter parking lot to accommodate the spaces lost as a result of the proposed declare surplus and disposal to SNC nor has funding been included in the TTC operating budget for the operating implications of a replacement lot.
4) The single point of entrance and exit to the Main commuter parking lot is from Bloor Street West, through the Lands to be declared surplus. Loss of access from Bloor St. would render the remainder of the commuter parking lot inaccessible as the grades and traffic implications on site make access from Islington Ave. infeasible. Therefore, access for commuter parking to and from Bloor Street must be maintained.
5) Similarly, the sole exit driveway from the existing PPUDO is also through the Lands and consequently, the PPUDO access to/from Bloor St. through the SNC development must be maintained.
6) The TTC is currently upgrading fire ventilation facilities and equipment throughout the subway system. These facilities are typically located at the end of station platforms and at subway portals. Without the benefit of the north end of the Lands, TTC may not be able to install the required fire ventilation equipment. The installation of TTC equipment after the SNC development is in place will be especially difficult and consequently must be protected for in the conceptual design phase of the SNC developments.
7) Based on design and operational requirements, a portion of the Lands at the north end will be required in future to accommodate the construction of TTC’s preferred new accessible bus terminal and commuter parking lot at Islington Station. If this portion of the Lands were to be sold or leased to SNC, TTC would likely no longer be able to construct the preferred bus terminal with the resulting negative impact on passengers and the quality and cost of bus service to the subway.
The most immediate impact of the SNC proposal is the potential displacement of approximately 400 Metropass parking spaces by the SNC development. Various financial, operational and policy options exist to address the loss of these spaces. However, as the City/ SNC development proposal is still unclear, it is difficult to precisely identify the implications for the Commission. The following outlines TTC staff’s preliminary assessment of the potential implications:
§ The worst case scenario would involve the loss of 400 Metropass parking spaces and the resulting loss in passenger ridership and revenue. This could be offset by increased ridership from the SNC development if the development were proposed to be transit supportive. However, SNC has indicated that they wish to provide a generous amount of employee parking, notwithstanding their location atop a subway station, and as a result, the ridership gains of the proposed development may be limited. The loss of 400 parking spaces is not acceptable to the Commission and is contrary to TTC policies particularly if those spaces are to be replaced with private parking as is proposed in this case.
§ It has been proposed that the Metropass parking spaces could be reinstated following completion of the below-grade SNC development. SNC would then pay to lease these parking spaces from the TTC for their employees thereby compensating the TTC for the lost passenger revenue associated with the 400 Metropass spaces. This would likely require the Islington/Lomond lot to be converted from a Cash lot to a Metropass lot to maintain the appropriate balance of cash, Metropass and Metropass/cash spaces in the area. With this approach, it is likely that people using the Lomond lot and walking to the Clarica Centre will purchase a Metropass to park in the Lomond lot. While this might address the TTC’s concerns about commuter parking/passenger revenue loss, the casual cash user at Islington Station will effectively be without access to occasional parking at Islington Station. It also does nothing to address the loss of transit ridership due to the loss of commuter parking spaces nor does it support the City’s own Official Plan policies to encourage transit-oriented development next to subway stations.
§ Even with making the 2 Fieldway Rd lot permanent, these spaces were being counted on as replacement spaces to facilitate MT’s move to Kipling Station. If they are counted on to replace the spaces displayed by the SNC development, they cannot be counted on as MT replacement spaces as well. If the 2 Fieldway lot is used as replacement spaces for the SNC development, this would effectively mean a much more expensive replacement parking strategy when MT moves to Kipling likely involving decked parking. This has both capital and operating implications for the TTC in the long term. As well, the 2 Fieldway lot is more expensive to operate as the amount of hydro corridor required for the lot is greater than the existing hydro lands utilized for parking at the Islington Main lot and it is less convenient for transit customers than the existing commuter parking spaces.
§ Even if the SNC development can address the loss of spaces and/or passenger revenue, the move of MT to Kipling (including the 2 Fieldway lot) is still short approximately 100 spaces to ensure the TTC 1 for 1 replacement policy is met. No solution for this shortfall has been found to date and consequently, any space shortfall created by SNC makes the long term replacement parking strategy more difficult and costly to solve.
While the TTC remains optimistic that the TTC’s replacement parking needs can be satisfied, City and TTC staff are going to have to be creative in addressing the resolution of this issue to address the TTC’s short term and the long term commuter parking needs. The City must also be required to ensure that the TTC’s present and future transit operational requirements are met, that continued redevelopment potential of the site is maintained and that any new development on the site meets the City’s own Official Plan objectives for transit supportive development
Following the SNC development and assuming that all of the noted conditions are satisfied by SNC, the major obstacle to proceeding with the full redevelopment of Islington and Kipling lands and moving MT to Kipling Station is funding. As noted previously, the Kipling/ Islington Bus Operations/ Redevelopment Strategy, including the capital funding implications to implement this initiative, will be the subject of a comprehensive report to the August meeting of the Commission.
JUSTIFICATION
TTC staff in conjunction with City staff have been working on design initiatives in an effort to free up property at Islington Station to accommodate transit oriented redevelopment. The TTC supports the City’s SNC development initiative in general terms, however, the Lands identified by the City as required for the SNC development are actively used in TTC’s daily operations and are major components for future redevelopment. The existing subway facilities on the Lands cannot be readily moved and easements do not provide adequate protection for TTC’s operations. In addition, a portion of the Lands will be required for future TTC bus, PPUDO and some commuter parking operations. The major impediments to the disposal and redevelopment of the Lands are funding, and ensuring that TTC existing and planned future facilities and transit operations at Islington Station are protected. The recommendations presented to the Commission for its consideration protect TTC’s operating interests and will enable TTC to undertake the construction of a permanent replacement commuter parking lot at 2 Fieldway Road.
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July 19, 2006
22-1
Appendices 1, 2, 3 and 4
P:\ Commission Reports\Reports\CR - Islington Transit Property Declared Surplus - July 2006.doc
