Woodside Square Planning Review - Proposals Report

In 2019, after the landowner indicated a desire to redevelop the parking areas around the mall with residential and other uses, City Council formally directed City Planning staff to initiate a Planning Review for the subject lands. The purpose of the Planning Review is to determine the appropriateness of providing additional land use permissions and establish a policy framework necessary to implement any future redevelopment of the site. Shortly after the Planning Review was initiated, a Zoning By-law Amendment application was submitted by the owners of the subject lands and is being reviewed concurrently with the work undertaken as part of the Planning Review. The Planning Review has advanced through three of its intended four phases. Phases 1 and 2 (Preliminary Consultation and Study Initiation & Visioning) were completed in 2019 and 2020 and developed a vision for the subject lands. Phase 3 (Design, Testing & Analysis) has been underway since the initiation and visioning phase, including community and stakeholder consultation as well as two presentations to the City's Design Review Panel. The Planning Review process has included numerous public engagement events through all phases, and community engagement techniques were necessarily modified in order to comply with public health guidelines with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This Proposals Report represents the culmination of engagement, design, testing and analysis to date through the development of draft policy directions that will inform the creation of a new Site and Area Specific Policy (SASP) for the Woodside Square lands. The draft policy directions advance the vision developed through early stages of the Planning Review to introduce residential intensification onto the site, retaining the existing mall building in the near term while not precluding the important city building components that would need to be secured over the long term if and when the mall building is reduced in size or removed completely. The near term intensification would be supported by the creation of new public streets and blocks, public parkland, public realm enhancements and improved connectivity and pedestrian safety. A final round of consultation is planned to confirm the draft policy directions as presented in this report and assist with crafting a new SASP for the subject lands. The final SASP will establish a planning framework for future development on the Woodside Square site that sets out a long-term vision for a comprehensive and orderly development of these lands into a complete community that retains a distinct identity while integrating into the existing community, building on the current function of Woodside Square as an economic, social, and community services centre within the Agincourt North community. This report recommends that the draft policy directions be used as a basis for staff to undertake additional stakeholder and public consultation. In addition, it is recommended that the draft policy directions be used to review development applications for the subject lands. Following consultation in the spring of 2022, staff propose to bring forward the recommended Official Plan Amendment for the SASP to a statutory meeting at the Scarborough Committee Council.

3. City Council request the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to report back to Scarborough Community Council with a final report and recommended Official Plan Amendment, including a Site and Area Specific Policy, for the subject lands at 1571 Sandhurst Circle.