625 Church Street - Zoning Amendment Application - Request for Direction Report

The proposed development includes 10,660 square metres of office and retail uses, 651 residential units, and 260 parking spaces. The total gross floor area proposed is 56,499 square metres. The proposed development in its current form is consistent with some, but not all of the policies in the Provincial Policy Statement (2020), conforms with some, but not all of the policies in the Growth Plan (2020), and does not conform to the City's Official Plan. The height and massing of the proposed development is not appropriate within the existing and planned context and does not provide adequate transition between areas of different intensity and scale. Furthermore, the extent of the proposed heritage conservation strategy is insufficient and the applicant has not sufficiently addressed outstanding servicing, transportation and waste disposal matters. This report recommends that the City Solicitor, together with City Planning staff and other appropriate City staff, attend the LPAT in opposition to the proposal in its current form, and continue discussions with the applicant in an attempt to resolve outstanding matters as identified in this report.

3. City Council direct the City Solicitor to request the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, in the event the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal allows the appeal and permits additional height or density, or some variation, to: a. Secure the following community benefits with the final allocation determined by the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning in consultation with the Ward Councillor, and enter into and register an Agreement to secure those benefits, pursuant to Section 37 of the Planning Act: i. A financial contribution payable to the City prior to issuance of the first above-grade building permit, with such amount to be indexed upwardly in accordance with the Statistics Canada Non-Residential Construction Price Index for the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area, reported quarterly by Statistics Canada in Building Construction Price Indexes Table 18-10-0135-01, or its successor, and calculated from the date of the Section 37 Agreement to the date of payment; the funds to be directed as follows or to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning in consultation with the Ward Councillor: A. Provision of on-site affordable housing and/or financial contributions towards affordable housing; B. Financial contributions towards area parks and facilities; C. A non-profit, licensed child care facility to be integrated within the proposed development in accordance with the Child Care Development Guideline and/or financial contributions towards a child care facility in the local vicinity; D. A minimum of 5,000 square feet of flexible, multi-purpose community agency space in an accessible and visible location at the ground floor of the proposed development in accordance with the City's Community Space Tenancy policy; E. Financial contributions towards a new Community Recreation Centre to serve growth in the North Downtown area; and/or F. Financial contributions towards capital improvements of local library branches. ii. In the event the financial contribution referred to in Recommendation 3(a)(i) has not been used for the intended purpose within three years of the date of the Section 37 Agreement, the financial contribution may be directed for another purpose, at the discretion of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division, in consultation with the Ward Councillor, provided the purpose is identified in the Official Plan and will benefit the community in the vicinity of the lands. iii.In the event the owner provides in-kind benefits pursuant to Section 37 of the Planning Act, the City's Fair Wage Policy and Labour Trades Contractual Obligations will apply to such work. b. The following matters are also recommended to be secured in the Section 37 Agreement as matters required to support the development of the site: i. The owner construct and maintain a 126.6 square metre privately-owned publicly accessible space (POPS) and a mid-block connection through the site, with specific configuration and design of the POPS and the mid-block connection to be determined and secured for public access in the context of Site Plan approval, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning; ii. The owner construct and maintain the development of the site in accordance with Tier 1 performance measures of the Toronto Green Standard, and the owner will be encouraged to achieve Toronto Green Standard, Tier 2 or higher, where appropriate; and iii. The owner design and install new traffic control signals at the intersection of Church Street and Hayden Street, at no cost to the City, to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Transportation Services, details to be secured as part of the Site Plan application. c. Withhold its Order allowing the appeal in whole or in part of the Zoning By-law Amendments until: i. The owner has entered into an Agreement under Section 37 of the Planning Act to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to secure appropriate community benefits and the Section 37 Agreement has been registered on title to the site to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor; ii. The Local Planning Appeal Tribunal has been provided with proposed Zoning By-law Amendments by the City Solicitor together with confirmation the proposed Amendments are in a form satisfactory to the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor; iii. The owner has addressed all outstanding issues identified by Engineering & Construction Services, Transportation Services, and Solid Waste Management, as outlined in the memo dated January 14, 2021 from Engineering and Construction Services relating to the Zoning By-law Amendment application, including submitting a revised Functional Servicing and Stormwater Management Report, site plan, and landscape plan, to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services; and iv. The owner has entered into an agreement or agreements with the City securing the design and the provision of financial securities for any upgrades or required improvements to the existing municipal infrastructure and/or provision of new municipal infrastructure identified in the approved engineering reports referenced in Recommendation 3(c)(iii), all to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services, should it be determined that improvements or upgrades and/or new infrastructure are required to support the development. 4. City Council authorize the City Solicitor and any other City staff to take such actions as necessary to give effect to the recommendations of this report.