The filed record
149, 151, 171 Front Street West, 7 Station Street, 20 York Street - Zoning By-law and Official Plan Amendments - Request for Direction Regarding Ontario Land Tribunal Hearing (formerly Local Planning Appeal Tribunal)
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The decision
2021-07-14 · Toronto City Council · adopted
As filed
City Council on July 14, 15 and 16, 2021, adopted the following: 1. City Council adopt the confidential instructions to staff in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (July 5, 2021) from the City Solicitor. 2. City Council authorize the public release of the confidential instructions to staff in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (July 5, 2021) from the City Solicitor. 3. City Council direct that the balance of Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (July 5, 2021) from the City Solicitor remain confidential at the discretion of the City Solicitor, as it contains advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege.
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The confidential instructions to staff in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (July 5, 2021) from the City Solicitor were adopted by City Council and are now public as follows: 1. City Council accept the with prejudice Settlement Offer, dated June 30, 2021, in Public Attachment 1 to the report (July 5, 2021) from the City Solicitor and as generally shown on the Revised Plans dated June 30, 2020, in Public Attachment 2 to the report (July 5, 2021) from the City Solicitor, subject to the Parts 2 to 5 set out below. 2. City Council authorize the City Solicitor and appropriate City Staff to attend the Ontario Land Tribunal (formerly Local Planning Appeal Tribunal) hearing on this matter in support of the revised proposal as set out in the with prejudice Settlement Offer dated June 30, 2021, in Public Attachment 1 to the report (July 5, 2021) from the City Solicitor and as generally shown on the Revised Plans, dated June 30, 2020, in Public Attachment 2 to the report (July 5, 2021) from the City Solicitor. 3. City Council authorize entering into an Agreement pursuant to Section 37 of the Planning Act as follows, satisfactory to the City Solicitor: a. the community benefits recommended to be secured in the Section 37 Agreement are as follows: i. an indexed cash contribution of $4,500,000 to be paid by the Application to the City and to be allocated as follows: 1. $1,500,000 towards public art; 2. $1,000,000 towards new off-site affordable housing; 3. $1,000,000 towards arts and culture in Ward 10; and 4. $1,000,000 for the study of and/or capital investment in the implementation of the Downtown Parks and Public Realm Plan; ii. all cash contribution referred to in Part 3.a.i. above shall be indexed upwardly in accordance with the Statistics Canada Construction Price Index for Toronto, calculated from the date of registration of the Section 37 Agreement to the date the payment is made; and iii. in the event the cash contribution referred to in Part 3.a.i. above has not been used for the intended purposes within three (3) years of the By-laws coming into full force and effect, the cash contribution may be redirected for another purpose, at the discretion of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in consultation with the Ward Councillor, provided that the purpose is identified in the Toronto Official Plan and will benefit the community in Ward 10; and b. the following are also recommended to be secured in the Section 37 Agreement as a legal convenience to support development: i. prior to the issuance of Site Plan Approval, the Applicant shall conduct and submit to the City a wind tunnel study for the proposed development and shall incorporate the recommendations of that study into the final site plan approval drawings, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning; ii. prior to the issuance of Site Plan Approval, the Applicant shall explore as part of the site plan application approval process retaining part of the Canadian National Express Shed Building, or a bay, in addition to its documentation and interpretation of the building in accordance with the revised Heritage Impact Assessment referred to in Part 4.f. below, to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning; iii. prior to the issuance of Site Plan Approval, the Applicant shall design the proposal to, at a minimum, achieve the Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gases targets of the Toronto Green Standards Tier 2 and shall also assess the commercial and engineering feasibility of pursing Toronto Green Standards Tier 4 standards in whole or in part for the development, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning; iv. prior to the issuance of Site Plan Approval, the Applicant shall submit a streetscape plan detailing improvements to Station Street to be implemented by the Applicant in support of the development and which will include, but not be limited to, details regarding landscaping, lighting, paving and curbing details, sidewalk treatment, outdoor seating and vegetation, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the General Manger, Transportation Services; v. prior to the issuance of Site Plan Approval, the Applicant shall explore as part of the site plan application approval process the location of the stairs leading up to the main entrance on Simcoe Street, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning; and vi. prior to the issuance of Site Plan Approval, the Applicant shall prepare a Construction Management Plan to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning. 4. City Council instruct the City Solicitor to request the Ontario Land Tribunal (formerly Local Planning Appeal Tribunal) to withhold its final order on the Zoning By-law and Official Plan Amendment applications until such time as the Ontario Land Tribunal (formerly Local Planning Appeal Tribunal) has been advised by the City Solicitor that: a. the proposed Zoning By-law Amendments are in a form satisfactory to the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and the City Solicitor, and includes the following: i. the proposed building shall have an east-west tower width to a maximum of 87 metres and a maximum height of 286 metres, including mechanical penthouse, as shown on the Revised Plans; and ii. the portion of the proposed building that is immediately adjacent to the existing building at 20 York Street has a height that is lower than the cornice line of 20 York Street; b. the proposed Official Plan Amendment is in a form satisfactory to the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and the City Solicitor; c. the City and the Applicant have entered into and registered a Section 37 Agreement securing the benefits outlined in Part 3, above, all the satisfaction of the City Solicitor; d. all engineering matters have been addressed to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services and the General Manager, Toronto Water; e. the Applicant has entered into an agreement or agreements or otherwise secured the design, construction, and the provision of financial securities for any required upgrades or improvements to the existing municipal infrastructure should it be determined that improvements or upgrades are required to support the development as may be identified in the accepted Functional Servicing Report, Stormwater Management Report and Hydrogeological Assessment, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services and the General Manager, Toronto Water; and f. the Applicant has submitted a revised Heritage Impact Assessment that includes the complete Documentation and Interpretation Plan for the SkyWalk and the Canadian National Express Shed Building and a detailed Conservation Plan for the heritage buildings at 20 York Street and 151 Front Street West, all to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning. 5. City Council authorize the City Solicitor and any other City staff to take such actions as necessary to give effect to City Council's decision. The balance of Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (July 5, 2021) from the City Solicitor remains confidential at this time in accordance with the provisions of the City of Toronto Act, 2006, as it contains advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege. The balance of Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (July 5, 2021) from the City Solicitor will be made public at the discretion of the City Solicitor.
On the agenda
As the city filed it
20 York Inc. (the "Applicant") is the owner of the properties municipally known as 149, 151, 171 Front Street West, 7 Station Street, 20 York Street (the "Subject Site"), located on the block generally boarded by Lower Simcoe Street to the west, Front Street to the north, York Street to the east, and the railway corridor to the south. The Subject Site currently contains an 8-storey non-residential building fronting onto Front Street, a commercial building and enclosed pedestrian walkway known as the SkyWalk that ranges from 1 to 4 storeys, and is traversed by an east-west private driveway with surface parking known as Station Street.
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The Subject Property includes one heritage listed building (20 York Street) and three heritage designated buildings (7 Station Street (the "Canadian National Express Shed Building"), 151 Front Street West, and the SkyWalk building). To the east of the Subject Site is Union Station. The Metro Convention Centre and InterContinental Hotel are located to the west. The SkyWalk building to the south connects to the Metrolinx UP Express Union Station stop. On March 5-8, 2007, the City Council approved an application to amend the Official Plan and Zoning By-law for a 36-storey office tower and technology centre on the Subject Site and adopted amending By-laws 594-2007 and 595-2007 (the "2007 Council Approval"). Building permits to develop in accordance with the 2007 Council Approval were never sought. On February 27, 2014, new Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendment applications were submitted for the Subject Site seeking a different development proposal for a 48-storey office building. On August 25, 2014, City Council approved the new rezoning and official plan amendment applications ("2014 Council Approval"). At that time, City Council also approved a related heritage demolition and alteration permit request to allow for the demolition of the heritage properties known as the Skywalk, 7, 7A, and 7B Station Street, and to also allow for the alteration of 151 Front Street and 20 York Street as part of the 48-storey office development proposal ("2014 Heritage Demolition Approval"). The final by-laws implementing the 48-storey office development associated with the 2014 Council Approval and the 2014 Heritage Demolition Approval were never enacted, as outstanding pre-approval conditions related to comments from Engineering and Constructions Services were never satisfied by the owner. In March 2019, the Applicant submitted a further revised Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendment proposal to the City for a new development design for the Subject Site. The Applicant's resubmission now proposed a 52-storey office building with an east-west width of 91.5 metres and 0 metre setback from the Lower Simcoe Street property line to the west (the "2019 Proposal"). The 2019 Proposal is intended to contain approximately 116,682 square metres of new commercial Gross Floor Area and 32,362 square metres of retained Gross Floor Area. The 2019 Proposal is a continuation of the applications that were approved by City Council, but never enacted by final by-law, in the 2014 Council Approval and 2014 Heritage Demolition Approval. In August 2020, the Applicant appealed the 2019 Proposal to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, now continuing as the Ontario Land Tribunal. The appeal is known as Ontario Land Tribunal case number PL200354. Two case management conferences have been held before the Ontario Land Tribunal regarding the appeal on January 19, 2021 and May 11, 2021. A third case management conference is scheduled for September 17, 2021. An 8-day Ontario Land Tribunal hearing is scheduled for November 15 to 24, 2021. On June 30, 2021, the Applicant's counsel, Stikeman Elliott LLP, submitted to the City Solicitor a with prejudice settlement offer (the "Settlement Offer") based on revised architectural plans also dated June 30, 2021 and prepared by architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (the "Revised Plans"). The Revised Plans and Settlement Offer are the result of discussions between the City and the Applicant. The Settlement Offer is attached to this report as Public Attachment 1 and the Revised Plans are attached as Public Attachment 2. The Settlement Offer and Revised Plans are described further in the "Comments" section below. The purpose of this report is to request instructions for the upcoming Ontario Land Tribunal hearing. If the Settlement Offer is accepted, the third case management conference on September 17, 2021 will likely be converted into a settlement hearing. City Planning has been involved in the preparation of this report.
Staff recommended
The City Solicitor recommends that: 1. City Council adopt the confidential recommendations contained in Confidential Attachment 1 to this report. 2. City Council authorize the public release of the confidential recommendations contained in Confidential Attachment 1 to this report, if adopted by City Council. 3. City Council direct that all other information contained in Confidential Attachment 1 to remain confidential at the discretion of the City Solicitor, as it contains advice subject to solicitor-client privilege.
On the record
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